Business Deal
by doyoubiteyourthumbatussir
Summary: Brittany dating Artie shouldn't make Santana so upset - but it does. In a way to try and figure out her feelings, she asks Juliet, captain of the girls tennis team and rumored lesbian, to make a "business deal" with her and help figure out her sexuality. Things get complicated, feelings get hurt, and Juliet, Santana, and Brittany have to figure out what they all mean to each other.
1. Chapter 1 - It's not a gay thing

*Notes*  
-I don't own any of these characters except for my one original  
-This is also up on AO3, I will update new chapters at the same time  
-This takes place near the beginning-ish of season 2 of Glee. Everything up until then is canon for my story, going forward I will use what happened in S2 as a sort of outline but will deviate from the canon.  
-Main character is an original character but a LOT of interaction with Santana, and eventually with Brittany and the other glee club members.  
\- I'm not a writer usually, just had this story in my head and wanted to get it out. I probably make a lot of grammatical errors, and I know I have an issue with switching between past and present tense by accident. My apologies on anything, but I hope you enjoy the story in general.

** NEW NOTE ** I have a friend helping me outline from chapter 7 and on, and it gets a little tighter and better. stick with it if you enjoy the general concept! thank you

 **Chapter 1**

 ****5PM Wednesday****

Juliet thought maybe she was hallucinating. Up until that morning, the idea that the hottest cheerleader in all of Mckinley would be in her bedroom and on top of her, was only a fever dream. However there they were; it was as much of a reality as was how much Chemistry homework she was currently avoiding. Juliet groaned and sent a silent thank you to whoever invented the cheerleading uniform, but all of a sudden the body heat on top of her was gone.

"Hell no Romeo, don't get all hot and bothered. This is strictly business." Santana's icy cold stare made Juliet feel small.

"Okay, I know you're having some existential gay crisis but why does that mean I can't enjoy any of this?" Juliet shifted herself so she sat with her back against the headboard of the bed. "As someone who is not even fully out of the closet, this kind of experience is few and far between for me here in good old Ohio."

Santana rolled her eyes and laid on her back facing the ceiling. "Like I told you already, I'm not gay." She paused and sighed before she continued. "My bestie Britt was the best make out partner I've ever had, but now she's all into that four eyed wheelbarrow and I don't see her as much anymore."

Juliet laid back next to Santana. "And you just thought the logical thing to do was to seek out me because of a rumor you heard that I might play on the same team as you...if you get what I mean." Juliet reached down to poke Santana jokingly in the side.

Santana huffed and sat up. "Don't touch me, dyke." Juliet's breath hitched, she wasn't expecting that response. "It's obvious by your lesbo haircut and lumberjack fashion choices, you aren't hiding anything. But I'm nothing like you. I am tired of all the guys in our school so I thought we could have some fun. But I guess NOT." Santana shouted as she swung off the bed and grabbed her bag.

"If you tell anyone this happened, I will end you." Santana spewed, not looking at Juliet for a minute more as she busted out the door.

Juliet sat up in shock. She could ignore the derogatory terms whispered at her in the hallway, but in her own house it felt a lot worse. Thinking back to earlier in the day, she almost had a heart attack when Santana came up to her right before lunch.

 ****11:30AM Wednesday****

"Hey, you." A hand forcefully shut Juliet's locker just as she was pulling her algebra notebook out.

"Um, ow!" Juliet huffed as she slid her book out of the closing doors, scraping her hand along the way. She looked over at the culprit and almost choked on air. The most sought after cheerleader, the highest on Mckinley's social ladder (maybe behind Quinn) but most importantly, the girl she's been fantasizing about ever since attending her first football game last year, was standing at her locker staring her down.

"Uh..." Juliet looked around at the almost deserted hallway. Santana rolled her eyes.  
"Yes hi, me the hottest bitch at this school is talking to you, a relatively average lady lovin tennis player - is tennis even a sport? Anywho, I need to make a deal with you." Santana crossed her arms and leaned against the row of lockers.

Juliet was taken aback but finally formed words. "Excuse me, but I am the captain of the girls varsity ten - wait." Her voice got quieter and her eyes darted around to see if anyone was listening. "I ... I'm not a...um, gay." Juliet stuttered and clutched her textbook closer to her chest as the curls on top of her head fell into her eyes.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Well, me either. But everyone likes to get drunk at parties and make out with their besties. But I heard you enjoy it a little more than most do." Santana winked at her.

Juliet scratched the side of her freshly shaven head. She knew ever since she got this "boys" haircut that people would think she liked girls. Deep down she also knew that was the reason she did it. It was a weird paradox to want to pretend so hard that you are "normal" but also at the same time want to stand out and be different - be true. Getting lost in her thoughts, Juliet realized she was holding her breath. She let out a sigh of defeat.

"What do you want from me?" Juliet was pensive but curious.  
Santana lowered her voice and leaned in. "I need you to help me out with something, and in return I can guarantee no more slushies for at least... a month."

Juliet stood there silent, waiting for further explanation. Did Santana think she would just blindly do whatever she said (she would).  
"Meet me at my car after glee practice is over and I will explain." Santana twirled away and left Juliet alone in the hallway.

Juliet stood at her locker dumbfounded. What was that? She went outside to get some fresh air and sat down against a tree in the courtyard.  
It wasn't that she was afraid of Santana but it was that ... she was intimidated by her. Juliet was the captain of the girls tennis team so it wasn't like they never ran into each other from time to time. Juliet was invited to most of the same parties that the cheerios were invited too, but they always felt like they were on a different level; they felt untouchable. She had never spoken to a single one of them, especially not to the three who coined themselves the "Unholy Trinity." Santana, Brittany, and Quinn didn't even stop being cool once they joined the glee club. They still got invited to all the parties. Thinking about it now, Juliet realized that she hadn't been invited to as many parties this year as she was last year. It probably had something to do with the fact that girls in the locker room would cower away from her as they were changing. Or how Ms. Pillsbury, the guidance counselor, silently slid a pamphlet to her one day that read "So you're struggling with your sexuality." Juliet rolled her eyes at the memories.

It all started with that rumor about her and Lena, a girl that went to Mckinley's rival school, Carmel high. The rumor that was...really not a rumor. But no one else needed to know that. The summer between freshman and sophomore year had been one of exploring for Juliet. She lived on the city line and one of her neighbors was a brilliant girl named Lena. They never really knew each other but ending up chatting when they both took a beginners kickboxing class at the local rec center. Things spiraled and soon they ended up spending every waking moment together. It went from a close friendship into something... a lot more. Juliet loved being with Lena, she didn't realize that being with someone like that could feel so right. Lena however, always held her at arms length, as if she was teetering on a fault line. Right before sophomore year, Juliet's parents caught them cuddling and kissing and the next day Lena blew up at her. Called her a lot of horrible names and said she was going to hell for wanting to be with her in the "gay way." Juliet knew that Lena was just scared, she also was scared. Juliet's parents threatened to send her to conversion therapy, and in the end Juliet decided staying in the closet was the safest place for her. She told Lena they could pretend nothing happened, but Lena ended up telling everyone at Carmel that "some lesbo named Juliet from Mckinley was hitting on her all summer" and from there the story spread.

Reliving that summer in her memories left Juliet in a bad mood. She stood up and went over to the tennis courts. Who cared that it was the middle of the school day, she needed to let off some steam. She hit ball after ball against the backboard, hitting every shot perfectly. If there was one thing she had control over, it was a tennis ball. Her thoughts went back to Santana. What could she want? Why would she hint about knowing Juliet was gay? She thought about how Brittany and Santana are always attached at the hip and wondered if it had anything to do with that. She had heard they hooked up at parties sometimes, but also had heard they both slept with most of the football team. She didn't know what to believe.

At 4:30pm, after tennis practice and after she knew glee was over, Juliet waited by the dumpsters. She knew which car was Santana's but she wanted to wait until the cheerleader was in view. A few minutes later, she saw her walking through the rows of cars, with Brittany and that kid in the wheelchair, Alex ... or was it Artie? She stopped at her car as the other two kept going and Juliet could see the sadness in her eyes from miles away. She watched as Santana looked around the parking lot, seemingly nervous and annoyed at the same time.

"Hey..." Juliet said tentatively as she walked over. Santana's face showed a glimpse of insecurity, but in a flash it was gone.

"Hey so listen. Puck is in juvvie and most of the guys at this school I've already hooked up with and they're all boring and disgusting. I am meant for bigger and better things than this hickville place but I need to keep myself in top form. You know, sexually." Juliet just raised an eyebrow and kept listening.  
"I've heard the stories about you, and I'm presenting you with an opportunity of a lifetime, so you should be grateful to me. Let me come over to your house, and we can fool around, and in exchange I will make sure you don't get slushie facials for a little while. It's not a gay thing, don't get me wrong." Santana paused as Juliet's facial expression turned into bewilderment.

"It's not a gay thing." Santana repeated. "I am just so over these boys, and I have needs." She ended there and waited expectantly for Juliet's reply.

Juliet stood there for what had to be a full minute in silence. A million things ran through her mind. She had a lot of different ideas of what Santana could want from her but this was not one of them.  
"I -" Juliet started to say.

"Oh and this is a secret. You wouldn't want even more confirmation about YOU going around this school... do you?" Santana spoke forcefully. Juliet almost laughed out loud, Santana was trying to gaslight her into thinking she's doing this FOR her. Interesting technique, but Juliet knew that what really was happening - gay panic. Santana was totally into girls. Santana Lopez was asking to hook up with her.

"This offer expires in 30 seconds so either get in my car or regret missing this for the rest of your life." Santana turned and climbed into the drivers seat of the car. Juliet shook herself out of her haze and hopped over to the passenger side.  
They sat in silence save for the occasional direction Juliet had to give. Santana tried to act natural and stoic but inside she was trembling. All she wanted to do is be with Britt, but she screwed that up and so Britt went running to Artie. As she listened to the cars whistling by them, she started to freak herself out more. "What's my problem?" Santana thought to herself. She had been with almost every reputable guy at Mckinley like it was no big deal - which it wasn't. Guys are generally dumb and really easy to figure out. No harm no foul. What is occurring to her now, it that girls might be different. Girls might be different because maybe deep down she wanted more from them. More than she was willing to admit.

Juliet was just as equally freaking out inside. She felt like she was in some alternate reality. Her wildest fantasy was literally coming true. The girl she'd been seceretly pining over for the better half of a year is driving to her house right now. At that moment she didn't care what the true reasoning is. If she needed to become that girl that other girls experimented with in high school - then so be it! Juliet smiled at that thought and chuckled a little to herself.  
Santana looked over at Juliet and her stomach rolled. Should she feel bad about using this girl? She most likely is loving this. Actually she had no idea what the other girl is feeling, she hardly knows her. Santana felt like an asshole.  
"Hey so, Juliet. This is okay with you right?" Santana asked pensively.

Juliet peered over and saw her gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. "Yeah. This is okay with me." She didn't say anything else because she didn't know what she is supposed to say. Santana nodded and they returned back to silence until Juliet told her to turn right into a driveway. "Are your parents home?" Santana questioned. She was hoping not, but either way this house was better than her own.  
"No, they won't be home till after 6." Juliet nervously chuckled. "There is some church meeting after work or something..."

Santana nodded. She didn't care for her to go into more details, but felt a twinge of sadness for her. If her family was anything like Quinn's...she didn't finish the thought. They both got out of the car, Juliet let her inside, and they went up to her room. They awkwardly stood there for a moment, Santana looked at her, like really looked at her, for the first time. She was cute, Santana thought. That short haircut gives her an edge but her smile... she has dimples.  
"Stop it Santana." She said to herself under her breath. This is just a means to an end.

"Are you okay?" Juliet asked her.  
Santana felt a shift in her body, she needed to be control. She put on that emotionless front. "Yeah, let's just do this." She looked at Juliet for one more second and then crashed their lips together as she pushed them both back onto the bed.

 ****5PM Wednesday****

Juliet sat on her bed for a few minutes processing what just happened. When the shock wore off, she got pissed. "What the fuck." She said out loud to no one in particular. She knew Santana thought she could do whatever she wanted but Juliet was no pushover.

The next day at school, Juliet saw Santana by her locker talking to Mercedes, a girl from glee club, they were discussing something about singing a duet. When Mercedes walked away Juliet stormed up to her.

"Hey, what the fuck?" Was all Juliet could think to say. She thought it summed up her thoughts real nicely. Santana looked taken aback that Juliet dare come up to her so publicly. "What the hell are you doing." She yell-whispered back as she looked around to see who was watching this.

"What the hell are you doing? If you want me to keep this secret for you than you can't call me derogatory names use me like I am some puppet." Juliet usually doesn't get that angry but this struck a nerve.  
Santana ducked them around a corner and forcefully pushed Juliet's shoulder against a wall. "Listen, you have as much secret invested in this as I do, hell even more because like I told you I'm not gay." She whispered the last word as if she would catch a disease.

"Oh please Santana, AS IF anything about me is a secret. Sure I pretend it is but, everyone knows. You aren't doing me any favors." Juliet hissed back. Just then two cheerios and a football player rounded the corner. Santana looked at them, pushed Juliet's shoulder back against the wall again, and says loudly. "You better finish your part of our chemistry project or I will make your life a living nightmare." With that, Santana turned around to join the crew, and as she does Juliet gets hit in the face with a bone shivering purple slushie that makes her cough and spit.

"Fag." the football player leers at her. Santana laughs - hard. Maybe a little too forcefully like she's trying to prove something. The four of them walk away as if nothing happened and Juliet is left standing against the wall trying to hold back the tears forming in her eyes.

Suddenly she felt arms wrapping around her and leading her outside the building. Once outside the mystery savior gives her a towel to wipe her face off with and she glances up to get a look at who is there. It's Kurt Hummel. She knew him as the only openly gay kid at this school.

"I always have a spare towel with me for times just like this." He tells her.  
"I hate that fucking word." He says softly. She does too. She hates all of the words that get whispered to her in the halls, or the anonymous instant messages she gets late at night. All she can do right now is nod at Kurt and try not to cry. It's not like she's never been slushied before - the student body barely considers tennis to be a real sport. But it's the reasoning behind the slushie that hurts more this time. Especially the way Santana reacted. She's the one that dragged her into this in the first place.

"I think a friend of mine might have an extra sweatshirt in her locker if you wanted to change into that." Kurt offers. Juliet dries herself off as best she can and gives him a half hearted smile.

"Thank you. I have one in my locker too though." She pauses, and extends her hand. "I'm Juliet."

Kurt smiles at her and returns the handshake. "Kurt. And I know who you are."

Juliet lets out a low chuckle. "I know who you are too." Kurt tilts his head to the side. "I'm no expert at how to navigate this here, but if you ever need backup let me know. It's nice to know I'm not the only one." He gives her a reassuring smile. She almost puts up a defense. He was assuming a lot and he didn't even know her. But who is she kidding. She was just plain tired of this. She nods in agreement.  
"Yeah. I think I am done trying to deny it. Not really ready to shout it off the rooftops but..." She trails off. He gives her a knowing look.

"and about Santana..." He pauses when Juliet's body gets rigid. "I know shes a bitch, I won't make excuses for her, we aren't even friends. But I see her a lot because of glee and past all those layers of tough I think she's just as broken. She's gonna tear down anyone in her path first before she lets herself be happy though so I'd steer clear if I were you." Juliet looks inquisitively at Kurt as he's analyzing Santana. How does he know? She wonders. But of course he knows. If you know the signs - you know. She also knows he would never say anything to out her, and neither will she. Juliet may feel a lot of distain for Santana right now but she would never do that.  
"I...think I recently learned this lesson." Juliet gives him a nod, as if she is convincing herself that she's graduated past what happened.

Kurt walks with her back into the school and to her locker where her extra clothes are. "Hey, can you sing? Or dance?" He asks. Juliet raises her eyebrow.  
"I've known to bust out my best Kelly Clarkson impression every now and then." Juliet smiles what she feels is her first real smile of the day.

"You should consider joining glee club. It's the only semi-non judgement free zone this school has." He smiles reassuringly at her and then glances at the clock. "I've got to run to class but, it was nice to officially meet you Juliet." He skips away and Juliet just stares at her locker. Glee club would definitely be something her mother would love for her to do, but in all honesty it sounded kind of lame to Juliet. She couldn't believe Santana was actually a part of it. But maybe she could join it as a way to torture her. She closed her locker and ran to her next class, trying to push out thoughts of all the events that happened this morning.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Business deal

Chapter 2

Later that afternoon Juliet is walking with her teammate Aubrey down the hall when all of a sudden her shoulder gets shoved back as someone knocks into her. It's Santana. Before she can even process what is happening she feels a folded up piece of paper sliding into her hand. She instinctively wraps her fingers around it, shoves it in her pocket, and looks back down the hall to see that long brown ponytail swishing from side to side as Santana rounded the corner.

"What was that about?" Aubrey huffs defensively. Juliet waves her arm as if it held no weight.  
"It's whatever. Sometimes we are invisible to them, remember? I doubt she even knows my name." Juliet tries to hide her blushing cheeks because even though she's pissed at Santana, a memory of her dream last night came rushing back to her. A dream in which Santana did not run out of her room in anger and instead the two of them did a lot touching and kissing and ...

"Hello, earth to Juliet." Aubrey was waving her hand in her face. "I was saying that I think we have a strong JV team this year." Juliet shakes off her memory and swirls around the note in her pocket with her fingers.  
"Oh yeah, definitely." They continue this conversation as they walk to their next classes.

During history Juliet sits in the back row and pulls out the note. It reads, "Meet me at my car, 4PM" She growled quietly. How can she expect Juliet to just meet her again today after everything that has happened? She crumpled up the paper and decides she won't go. Santana can't bully her into this just because she is well - Santana!

After tennis practice, Juliet heads towards the bicycle rack when she gets cut off by a figure looming over her. She looks up.  
"Listen, I am sorry okay?" Santana says sounding slightly annoyed. Juliet frowns and pushes past her.

"I don't have time for your games. I'd rather go back to you not knowing who I am then for you to continue to treat me like this." Juliet reaches down to undo the lock attached to her bike.

Santana huffs angerly but then sighs a sound of defeat. "I've always known who you were Juliet." Her voice a lot softer that time. "Well, since the beginning of this year at least. Listen...just give me another chance on our deal and I promise to be..." Santana pauses and then grumbles "...nicer."

Juliet rolled her eyes at the ground, but stops unlocking her bike and stands up. She looks Santana straight in the eyes, and was taken aback. There was no malice in there like usual, just the look of someone really scared trying to put on a brave face. Juliet's anger melted just a little.  
"You have to stop being so hard on yourself. Because youre taking it out on everyone else - namely me, and I can't take someone else being as mean to me as I am to myself about all of this so..." Juliet trails off. Santana's face crumpled up as if she was trying to hold back tears, but she quickly gets ahold of herself and takes a deep breath.

"I'm not trying to make some big statement. Being a bitch is just easier for me." Santana looks down at her feet. "Since this is a thing that no one will ever know about, I can try to give you a break from snarky Santana." She looks back up. "As long as you don't get all weepy and attached to me. This is still just for fun with no strings attached. You got it?"

Juliet sighs and takes a second to think. "Okay. Fine. You have to stop with all the gay jokes though. I AM gay." Juliet pauses, realizing that's the first time she's ever said it out loud with such finality to someone else. "I am gay." She repeats. "And I am done running away from it. Whatever is going on with you is your business. Just don't make my life any harder than it needs to be." Juliet feels a sense of relief.

"I can do that." Santana's face softens and she puts a hand on Juliet's shoulder, "Come on, I'll give you a ride."

* * *

Two weeks go by, Juliet and Santana have settled into somewhat of a routine. Every couple days after school, Santana would text and tell her to meet her in the parking lot. They would go to Juliet's house where they would fool around until they heard a car door slam which meant parents had gotten home. For Juliet, it was glorious. Santana was soft and rough all at the same time, however for someone as promiscuous as Santana's reputation called her to be, Juliet could tell she was still a little apprehensive when it came to being with her - even if it was all Santana's idea. She decided early on to accept the fact that Santana was going to call all the shots in this situation, and she was just going to be along for the ride.

At school, Santana tried her best to keep up appearances. She mostly ignored Juliet in the hallway, but kept her promise of no more slushie facials and so far none of the cheerios or football players called her any names or gave her weird looks. When they were in private, in Santana's car, they started to get used to each others company. Juliet wouldn't classify them as friends, but they would chat about pop culture, sports and general life stuff. Sometimes when they would catch a glimpse of each other in passing they would lock eyes and faintly smile. Santana would wave ever so slightly, or brush up against her arm - little things that no one would ever detect. It all made Juliet giddy. She knew that she shouldn't get hung up on Santana, the girl was using her. She also knew that Santana was definitely hung up on Brittany, it was fairly obvious for anyone who was tuned into the situation. Santana was just waiting for Brittany to break up with Artie. She would never admit that but Juliet knew it was true, deep down. But Juliet also couldn't help the way her heart started beating faster whenever her phone chimed and it read "A new message from SL" or when Santana would grab her hand and interlock their fingers as she pulled her up the stairs and into her bedroom.

One day, Juliet caught herself staring a little bit too long at the cheerleader standing at her locker. But Santana just winked at her, closed her locker and continued to pretend to listen to whatever story Quinn was blabbing on about. Juliet blushed and walked the opposite direction down the hall.

Later that afternoon, when Juliet was straddling Santana's hips and sucking on her neck, Santana abruptly sat up and swung them around so Juliet was underneath her.  
"Whoa." Juliet said as she tried to catch her breath. Santana had a little sparkle in her eye.

"I caught you today, staring at me for just a little too long." She leaned down and sucked hard on Juliet's bottom lip. Juliet let out a tiny shudder and was about to try and form a sentence of rebuttal when Santana broke out in a cheeky grin.

"It was kinda hot."

Juliet let out a sigh combined with a slight chuckle. "You're kind of magnetic you know."  
Santana half smiled with a distant look in her eyes. "Yeah well I wish everyone felt that way." She looked down and saw Juliet's face drop ever so slightly.

Santana bit down on her lower lip and thought for a second before she sat up, still holding Juliet between her two legs. She pulled the hem of her own shirt up over her head and unclasped her bra, looking back down at Juliet once she had discarded the items on the floor.  
Juliet was speechless, her and Lena had done pretty much everything except for have sex, but there was something about the amorousness of Santana that made her forget how to perform basic functions.

They both explored each others upper bodies slowly and deliberately until they heard a car door slam from the driveway. They jumped back with a gasp and took a moment to catch their breaths, staring at each other until it clicked that they needed to put their shirts back on. They fumbled to grab their things off the ground and silently got dressed.

This was usually the time where Santana would say "thanks" and rush out, only stopping to politely decline the invitation to stay for dinner that Juliet's mom Josslyn always offered. But today, Santana laid back down on the bed and grabbed the remote for the TV that Juliet had set up across her room. Juliet just stood there for a moment until her brain caught up to her mouth.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Juliet asked as she heard her mother come in through the front door downstairs.  
"You won't shut up about that show Parks and Rec and I thought maybe I should watch and episode or two." Santana looked over and raised her eyebrow. She patted the empty space on the bed next to her. "Come sit."

Confused but not about to argue, Juliet hopped onto the bed and took the remote. "Okay, I'll find it. But keep in mind that the first season starts off slow. It really gets going in the second season, they find their groove so just keep with it and -" Santana puts a finger to Juliet's lips.  
"Shh. Your talking is ruining this." Juliet turned her head to face Santana and couldn't help but lean over and press a soft kiss to her lips. Santana returned the kiss and then rolled her eyes with a smirk.

"Don't get all domestic on me J." She warned, but with a gentleness to her voice. "Nerd." She added as she nudged her arm, with no hint of maliciousness behind it. Santana leaned back and propped her arm around Juliet's back. Juliet found the first episode of the show and then leaned into Santana's embrace, eventually resting her head on the girls shoulder. Juliet smiled to herself, thinking how nice this felt and wondering at the same time why Santana is doing this. A fleeting thought came across about how this all could be one big game to her, but a quick glance up at Santana's pink flushed cheeks has her thinking otherwise. Santana moved the remote off the bed and rested her hand closely to Juliet's, grazing their index fingers together every now and then.

Santana leaves as soon as Juliet's mom hollers about dinner being ready. Juliet can't stop smiling the rest of the night. She is smitten, and it might be a problem in the future but for right now she was content.


	3. Chapter 3 - Sat night party

Chapter 3

Another week and a half went by and Juliet notices that the frequency in which they hang out has increased. Santana was supposed to be at a party one Saturday night when Juliet heard her phone chime.

 _SL: hey_  
 _JS: hey?_  
 _SL: r u home_

Juliet looked at her clock, it was 9:45pm, why was Santana texting her from the party?

 _JS: yeah, i'm home. a couple of my friends just left_  
 _SL: don't lie girl, you dont have any friends ;)_  
 _JS: Pfft, do so. They told me they could only hang for a little. I'm about to get my parks and rec watch on. *party emoji*_  
 _SL: woooow, i've got some lessons to teach you on how to be cool. kidding. wait ur not allowed to watch that show without me, we got a deal romeo!_

Juliet smiled into her phone, she knew that would get her riled up, and she loved when Santana used that nickname on her.

 _JS: we got a lot of deals going on apparently. I guess if you dont want to miss anything youll have to leave your fancy party that I wasn't invited to and come over. parents won't be back till tomorrow morn, theyre on some church retreat._  
 _SL: u act as if i'm not already on my way over. tequila bottle in hand. ready to party._  
 _JS: wait, for real? i thought you were at the football party._  
 _SL: u better pause that show bitch and get out your shot glasses. party for two happening in 5.  
_  
Juliet grinned and laughed a little. Santana was unpredictable, and lately she had really felt like the two of them were becoming actual friends. Save for the part where they did not interact with each other outside of Juliet's bedroom. Juliet looked around her room and at what she was wearing and jumped up to change and tidy quickly.

After three shots each and a make out session, they cuddled up on the bed as parks and rec blared on the TV. Santana's head rested on top of Juliet's, their legs intertwined; Santana let out a bellowing laugh.

"I knew you would warm up to this show. It is hilarious." Juliet squeezed her thigh.  
Santana scoffs but the grin on her face doesn't go away. "That April girl, she is my kindred spirit. What a bitch. I love her."

Juliet laughs and then sighs. She takes one of Santana's hands and absentmindedly twirls their fingers together.  
"Hey so, why did you not go to the party at Karofskey's house tonight? I mean, I don't mind. I... I like this. Us, hanging out." Juliet says nervously, feeling the tequila giving her liquid courage.

"Brittany decided to hang out with Artie instead of going, so I didn't see any reason to go. Plus Dave has been a little asshole to Kurt, and even though they're a bunch of whiny babies - I feel some sort of allegiance to the people in glee. Sometimes its the only place I feel like I can really be myself." Santana said with sincerity, but not noticing how her words left Juliet feeling like she was just stabbed in the heart.

"But, what about with me? I feel like you've let me see a whole side of you that no one knows existed. And I'm not just talking about the whole 'you like making out with girls' thing that you're trying to ignore." Juliet felt a little defensive.

Santana pulled her hand away from Juliet's grasp and sat up a little straighter.  
"Hey listen, you're not awful company and I'll admit you're a lot more fun to fool around with then any guy I've ever been with. But... I'm not gay. We are still on a business deal here." Santana untangles their legs. "I...I want to keep doing this but you have to promise you're not placing expectations on me that I can't meet." Santana says this tenderly but Juliet can feel her closing off and shutting down her feelings in the way only Santana can.

Juliets' head stays hanging low, not looking up she says, "I know, I know. Just a means to an end right? I know you're just waiting for Brittany."  
Santana's body goes rigid. "I...no...she's just..." she sighs and lets her tension go. "There's really no reason to lie to you is there. You're basically one of the only people, besides Brittany, who knows how to keep my secrets."

The girls sit in silence for a few moments.  
"I'm sorry." Santana adds, unsure of what else to say. Juliet sighs, she doesn't know what to say either. She knew she shouldn't be having real feelings for Santana, she was warned not too. But the heart wants what the heart wants. She felt the tequila working its way through her veins, heightening her already intense feelings.

Juliet looked up and sad eyes were staring back at her. She pulled her down into a kiss.  
Santana could feel the desperation in Juliet's kiss, and she knows she should stop this whole thing before they get in too deep, but it just felt so good. Their kiss deepens and soon Juliet is on top of Santana nudging at the hem of her shirt, wanting it gone. They keep undressing each other until nothing is left to be taken off.

Juliet pulls back and looks at Santana. "Is this okay?" They both know what she's asking permission for.  
Santana's eyes are dark and full of lust, she moans "Yes." then pulls Juliet back down crashing their lips together.

It's not until both girls are fully satisfied that they each lay back on the bed trying to catch their breaths.  
"Wow." Juliet looks up at the ceiling. She felt like she was floating among the stars.

Santana laid there still for a few minutes, until she said faintly,  
"That was my first time doing all of that... with a girl." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Juliet froze. "You mean...you and Brittany never...?" She couldn't finish the sentence.  
Santana just shakes her head from side to side. "Some of it, but not all of what we just did."  
Juliet looked over, grabbed her hand underneath the blanket and gave it a little squeeze. "Are you okay?"

Santana scoffs slightly but with weakness in her tone she says, "Yeah, I mean, It's not like I've never had sex before."  
Juliet turned her whole body so she faced Santana completely. "Yeah but, with a girl it's different, isn't it." She can see a tear trying to escape from the side of Santana's eye.

Santana considered keeping a brave face but she was just too tired for that. Too tired to keep these walls up anymore. She turned to look at Juliet.  
"Yeah, it is different." She nodded. "It feels right." She added quietly as tears fell down her face. Juliet scooted over and wrapped her arms around her silently letting her know that it was okay.

They stayed that way for a long time, until her tears stopped flowing and she sobered the rest of the way up. They sat up in bed and Santana looked tenderly into Juliet's eyes.

"You're sweet, you know that?" She squeezed her hand as their fingers were intertwined. "I'm sorry I'm such an asshole. I don't know how to handle this. I'm supposed to be the popular cheerleader that all the girls want to be and all the guys want to be with. I don't know how to not be that."

Juliet blushed, and pushed back a strand of Santana's hair behind her ear. "It's okay. It's okay not to know. There was no guidebook written for us. You have to accept it on your own time. Do what's right for you."  
Santana smiled softly. "Do you mind ... can I stay here tonight? I don't think I can be alone."  
Juliet grabbed Santana some clothes to sleep in and they both cuddled up as they drifted off.

In the late morning, Juliet woke up feeling like she was in a sauna. She blinked a few times and realized it was because a body was tangled up around her and she was pinned underneath. She shifted her arm slightly and Santana sleepily moved so her head was buried in the crook of her neck. Juliet smiled to herself, taking a moment to realize how nice this is. It made her feel safe and wanted and even though Santana was keeping her heart locked away, Juliet felt like some of her walls were breaking down.

She heard a car door slam outside the window that made Santana jump awake. They both looked at each other and smiled sleepily until it clicked that they needed to get out of the same bed and get dressed before Juliet's parents come upstairs.

Minutes later there was a faint knock on the door as it swung open. "Juliet we are back, I was wondering - oh hi Santana." Josslyn stopped halfway through the door frame and studied what was staring back at her from her daughters room. She raised an eyebrow. "What is going on here?"

Santana moved away from Juliet nervously, and stood in front of the tequila bottle she noticed resting on the nightstand. "Hi Ms. Sanders, I um, Juliet let me crash here last night. I...got too drunk at a party down the street and she was nice enough to not let me drive home" Parents make Santana nervous, she would rather admit to drinking than have anyone be one second away from finding out her secret and telling her mom and Abuela.

"Uhh I mean, I called her after I left. She wasn't at the party though." Santana winced and looked over at Juliet. Usually she was a lot better at this but her whole entire night caught her off guard.

"I really should be going, I don't want to keep you from having a nice Sunday afternoon." Santana rambled on. She grabbed her bags, discreetly taking the bottle of tequila with her, and ran down the stairs.

Josslyn stayed standing in Juliet's doorway until they heard the front door close shut. She then goes and sits at the foot of Juliet's bed.  
"Jules, I've been noticing Santana spending a lot of time here after school while we aren't around." Josslyn squeezed her eyes shut. "And now she stayed in your bed while we were away? If this is another situation like with that girl Lena - "

"MOM." Juliet raised her voice. "Santana is a friend. She is in my Chemistry class. I am allowed to have friends while I'm in high school aren't I? You were the one that tells me to always be responsible. I was being responsible." Juliet huffed at her mother.

"Yes dear, you're allowed to have friends. But I'm not sure I want you having the kind of friends who get drunk on the weekends and spend the night in your room unsupervised. I think that going forward, it is wise if your father and I are home whenever you have friends over." She pats her daughters leg and starts to get up.

"Are you kidding me? I am almost sixteen years old. My friends and I don't need a babysitter! We just watched TV last night." Juliet crossed her arms and wondered when it became so easy to lie to her mother. Josslyn took a deep breath.  
"This is not a discussion, from now on no one else is to be here with you without one of us present. Unless you'd prefer we discuss a more drastic approach."

Juliet stopped talking. She didn't want to press her mother anymore. Josslyn left and Juliet felt her phone vibrate.

 _SL: does your mom kno?_  
 _JS: dont worry about her. she is only ever concerned with me. she will always find a way for me to do something wrong in her eyes._  
 _SL: do you think she will tell my parents. i think they know each other._  
 _JS: don't worry about it san, I promise_

Juliet waited a beat before continuing to text. _  
_  
 _JS: it's going to be okay. are you okay?  
_  
A long few minutes went by before Santana sent a message back.

 _SL: I think I need a break._

Juliet frowned at that response. She thought maybe they were getting somewhere, she didn't want Santana to shut down.

 _JS: Santana no, its okay. Nothing is going to happen I promise. :)  
_  
Juliet added the smiley to hopefully help bring up the mood. She waited but Santana never texted back.


	4. Chapter 4 - The glee experiment

Chapter 4

The next four days at school Santana completely ignored Juliet. Didn't acknowledge her presence when they pass each other, didn't answer any of her texts, and rushed out of their shared classes just as the bell rings. Juliet was at a loss.

She started thinking about everything that happened on Saturday, did she do something wrong? Was she...not good? She stopped trying to text Santana after three days, started skipping tennis practice and ignoring messages from her friends. She was digging herself into a hole that she wasn't sure she knew how to get out of.

At the beginning of the fifth day of silence, Juliet collided with someone in the hallway and dropped her history book. She glanced up at who it was, and of all the people of course, it was Brittany.

"Oh, sorry." Juliet's face flushed red as she looked at the ground. She felt a hand on her shoulder.  
"I'm sorry, that was my bad." Brittany leaned down and picked up the history book. "You don't want to lose this, Lord Tubbington stole all 14 of my copies and now the library is threatening to sue." She handed the textbook back to Juliet. "Although, I don't know what coach Sylvester has to do with anything..."

Juliet leaned her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. She wanted to hate the girl but she seemed so blissfully sweet. In that moment Santana, Puck and Artie rounded the corner. Juliet decided that this is her chance.

"Hi Santana." She says standing up straight attempting to exude confidence. Santana glances in her direction and then hooks her arm onto Brittany's, turning her back to Juliet.

"Come on Britt, Puck said him and Artie are taking us on a double date tonight." She said, pulling Brittany into their group. With that, the four of them walk away down the hall, as if Juliet had never existed in the first place.

She sighed and leaned against the row of lockers behind her, watching the four of them strut off together. Kurt comes up next to her and sees her watching them.  
"Did you hear, Santana and Puck are together now that he's back from juvvie. Also apparently he's trying to help Artie get Brittany back." Juliet turns her head to look at him.

"Wait...when did Brittany and Artie break up?" She tried to not sound too interested.  
"Not sure exactly, I can't keep up with everyone's on and off again relationships in glee. It's all a little incestous." He sighs as he leans against the wall of lockers.

"Hey are you doing okay?" Juliet notices he looks run ragged.  
"Yeah...I'm just tired of the people at this school." Juliet raises an eyebrow. "Present company excluded of course." Kurt half smiles at her.  
"I visited this school called Dalton Academy the other day...they're our competition for sectionals, but I was not spying I swear." Kurt raised his hand as scouts honor, and Juliet shrugs. What does she care.

"But they have a zero tolerance policy about bullying and also half the school is gay!" Kurt took a deep breath in as he pushed his back off the wall.  
"Oh, I didn't know paradise existed!" Juliet joked. "Where is this school?"

Kurt grinned at her, "I should mention it's an all boys school." She rolled her eyes and he laughs.  
"Of course it is..." The bell rang to signal students to get to the next class.

"Hey, you should come join me and my friends at lunch." Kurt tells her as they start to walk down the hall.  
Juliet lights up. "Yeah, that would be aweso-" she gets cut off by Kurt being slammed against the wall by Dave Karofskey - the biggest guy on the football team.

"Watch where you're going homo. We don't want you infecting anyone with a touch of the gay." He looks over to Juliet and grimaces. "Although I see it's already spreading. How about you two go quarantine yourselves on mars and save us all the trouble." He glared at Kurt and shoved him against the wall one more time before storming off down the hallway.

It took Juliet a minute to realize she's shaking. She turned her attention to Kurt with a look of concern. He frowns.  
"That is exactly what would not happen at Dalton. Sorry you had to be a part of that Juliet." Kurt straightens out his jacket and tries to hold his head high.

"See you at lunch?" He looks at her, and she can see sadness in his eyes. She musters up as much gusto as she can into her smile. "I'll be there." She replies, before they part ways down the hall.

* * *

Juliet grips her red lunch tray as she scans the cafeteria. She clocks Santana in the corner with Brittany, Quinn, and couple of the other cheerios. A few tables down from them are the people she is looking for. Usually she would never abandon the girls on the tennis team at lunch but lately she has been anxious for a change and maybe these were just the people she needed to make friends with. She smiles and grabs a seat next to Kurt.

"Hey, fancy seeing you here." She nudges him and he turns around with a grin.  
"Hey! Juliet it's so good to see you." Kurt introduces her to everyone at the table. There is Tina and Mike, who apparently are dating and attached at the hip. There is Mercedes, who Juliet remembers as someone who talks to Santana about glee numbers occasionally. Then there was Artie ... who she was surprised to see. She noticed he was staring longingly at the same table that she's been keeping an eye on as well.

"Artie, are you sure you want to listen to Puck regarding dating advice? Remember how he got Quinn pregnant last year?" Tina looked over concerned at Artie.  
"I'm at the end of my rope, I will do anything to get Brittany back. Plus she loves Breadstix, it has to work." He turns back into the table and opens the carton of milk on his tray. "Have you ever been so desperate for someone to just talk to you that you feel like you are going to explode?" He asked no one in particular.

Kurt scoffs. "That's a little dramatic, hasn't it only been like a few days?."

Juliet glances over at Santana, whose back is turned. "Yeah I can understand that." Everyone at the table turns towards her.

"Hey so Juliet, what's your deal? You are the captain of the tennis team right?" Mercedes looks at her with a confused expression. "Just curious as to why you're sitting with us, of all people. We aren't exactly the most popular people to hang around."

Juliet gives a quick side glance to Kurt who does the same, and then looks down at her tray and shrugs. "I think I need a change." She sits solemnly for a moment and then looks up. "Plus, Kurt promised me his friends were fabulous, and so far I can see that he's right." She smiles at them.

They all chuckle and take a bite of their lunches. "You know, if you can sing, or even just dance-" Tina says as she glances at Mike, "-you should come join the glee club."

"Yeah, if you're looking for a change maybe that could be it. We are always looking for more members." Mercedes looked up hopefully.  
Juliet pondered this for a second. She never really understood exactly what glee club was. She liked to sing, and her mom forced her to learn guitar when she was younger so maybe those lessons could finally be put to use. She shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe. What are you guys doing at glee this week?" Juliet looked around the table.  
"Well, not really sure because Mr. Schue is out sick. We already had one practice where Rachel took over and...I'm not sure I could handle that again." Tina grabbed a tator tot off Mercedes tray.

Mercedes glared at her as Kurt said, "Actually, I think I have a solution for that. The substitute taking over his spanish class, Ms. Holliday, is awesome. I'm thinking of seeing if she will help us out in glee club next week."

Juliet found her eyes wandering back over towards the table Santana was sitting at. The voices of her new friends faded out as she started seriously considering joining glee club. She needed to get out of the funk she was in, and maybe forcing Santana to be around her will uncover what changed all of a sudden. She tried to remember which closet in her house her guitar was stashed in to when a voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Hey Juliet, we were thinking of going to the mall today after glee, do you want to join us?" Tina offered. Juliet smiled, her mind now racing with thoughts.

"Actually, I think I'm going to have to pass so I can practice the song I'm going to sing when I join." The group gasps and laughs.  
"Yes girl! Here," Mercedes slid her phone over to Juliet, "put your number in my phone and let me know if you have any questions. We are going to see how things go with Ms. Holliday today as a sub but feel free to come to the choir room on whichever day you feel comfortable."

Juliet smiles, thankful for her new friends, and ready to see how Santana can possibly avoid her when they are singing and dancing right next to each other all the time after school.

* * *

Juliet sits on her bed with her newly tuned guitar in hand as she scrolled her phone for song ideas. She considered sending Santana one more text, warning her that she might show up at glee, but then decided against it. Learning how Brittany and Artie broke up recently, her behavior made more sense. Juliet knew she was using Puck as a cover up and probably meddling in everyone's lives to try and figure out a way to get Brittany to be with her. Santana might not realize but, Juliet really got to know her over the past month. She would listen to her tell stories about the kids in glee or the girls on the cheerios and all the drama. She thought they had really gotten to a point where they could be honest with each other - but then suddenly Santana yanked it all away without an explanation.

She spent the weekend practicing the song that she decided on. She didn't know how Santana felt about them, but Juliet knew how she felt and decided on the song to show that. Well that and also it was relatively easy to play on guitar and she was kind of out of practice.

* * *

All day Monday Juliet is a bundle of nerves. She catches Santana's eye three times throughout the day but Santana continued to pretend she didn't exist. As the final bell rang, she grabbed her guitar and started towards the choir room. She felt an arm link into hers and she looked over.  
"Are you excited?" Kurt smiles at her. "I'm personally very curious to see what song you have selected, seeing as you kept texting me agonizing about it all weekend."

Juliet grins. "I'm pretty curious how it's all going to go over myself." she says as they walk through the doors of the choir room. Ms. Holliday looks over at them.

"Ah yes! Kurt told me this morning that we have a student interested in joining us." She steps back and goes to sit on the chairs with the students.

"Hey everyone, this is Juliet, she is the captain of the girls tennis team and apparently secretly very musically talented." Kurt squeezes her arm and lets go as he goes and sits next to Tina.

Juliet scans the room, she doesn't know a lot of these students but she feels like she does from all the stories. She looks at everyone before finally landing on Santana. The look on her face was one of pure confusion mixed with terror. As Juliet was about to address the room, Rachel, the self appointed glee club leader, jumped up and faced Ms. Holliday.

"While interest in the glee club is always appreciated, shouldn't we wait for Mr. Schue to come back before adding members?" She huffed and crossed her arms.

"I second that." Santana jumped in as she raised her hand. Rachel turned to give Santana a questioning look, but she just shrugged and looked down. Juliet felt her heart sink.

"Mr. Schue lets anyone join, we are supposed to be all inclusive Rachel. Something you continue to fail to learn." Tina fought back to her.  
"You are just upset that Ms. Holliday is actually letting us have fun." Quinn scoffs at Rachel. The rest of the club erupts into arguments until Ms. Holliday whistles and everyone snaps to attention.

"Hey! Yes, while I am not here forever I am here right now, and today I say that glee club is open to whoever wants to come. Come on you guys! Where is your spirit. We are doing songs you want to do this week. I think Juliet came prepared to sing, so why don't we just rewind here," Ms. Holliday does a funky little dance, "and make her feel welcome." She pats Juliet on the back and motions for her to take the stage.

Juliet laughs nervously and then clears her throat, standing alone now at the center of the choir room. "Um, hey you guys. Like they said, my name is Juliet. I recently started hanging out with-" her eyes darted over to Santana who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "-Kurt, and I decided to dust off my old guitar and give this a try." She fiddled with her guitar strap, swinging the instrument to the front and positioning her fingers on the first chord.

"I haven't sang in public in maybe - ever. But, this is a song that feels personal to me because of recent events in my life so, here we go." Juliet takes a deep breath and starts to strum her guitar.

 _("Just a Kiss" by Lady Antebellum)_  
 _Lyin' here with you so close to me_  
 _It's hard to fight these feelings_  
 _When it feels so hard to breathe_  
 _Caught up in this moment_  
 _Caught up in your smile_

Juliet sings the first verse before glancing up at Santana whose mouth drops open. She continues on singing.

 _I've never opened up to anyone_  
 _So hard to hold back_  
 _When I'm holding you in my arms_  
 _We don't need to rush this_  
 _Let's just take it slow_

She looks around the room at the others and they seem to be enjoying her performance. Rachel actually looks slightly impressed by her voice. This gives Juliet some more confidence as she turns back to Santana and starts to sing directly to her.

 _Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight_  
 _Just a touch of the fire burning so bright_  
 _And I don't want to mess this thing up_  
 _I don't want to push too far_  
 _Just a shot in the dark that you just might_  
 _Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life_  
 _So baby I'm alright, with just a kiss goodnight_

Santana starts subtly shaking her head as her eyes stay locked to Juliet. If looks could kill, Juliet would be six feet into the ground by now.

 _I know that if we give this a little time_  
 _It'll only bring us closer_  
 _To the love we wanna find_  
 _It's never felt so real_  
 _No it's never felt so right_

Juliet stays so focused on Santana for most of the song that she doesn't see Kurt notice her eyeline and then glance behind him at who she's looking at. His eyes go wide and he looks around the room to see if anyone else is catching onto this, but no one seems too.

 _Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight_  
 _Just a touch of the fire burning so bright_  
 _And I don't want to mess this thing up_  
 _I don't want to push too far_  
 _Just a shot in the dark that you just might_  
 _Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life_  
 _So baby I'm alright, with just a kiss goodnight_

Juliet finishes the song and the room erupts with applause. She smiles sheepishly and takes one more glance up at Santana, who is looking at anything and everything except for Juliet.

When the club is dismissed, Juliet gets up and tries to head towards Santana but gets cut off by Rachel and Finn, who want to welcome her to the group. By the time she goes through and ends up meeting almost everyone in the room, Santana is no where to be found. Then she hears a chime in her pocket.

 _SL: Underneath the bleachers - NOW._

Juliet hurries outside and towards the football field. Finally, she was going to get some answers.


	5. Chapter 5 - Under the bleachers

*NOTES*  
Hey all! Thank you to whoever is reading this, I really appreciate it. I know having something be from the point of view of an original character can be weird but I hope everyone is enjoying reading it.  
I really like the first half of this chapter, I thought about ending the entire story after that, but I've decided to keep going. I have a ton of ideas, I just hope I can make it as interesting and dynamic as I have liked what I've done so far.  
The exact song arrangement covered in this chapter is by a group called "Everly" its awesome I recommend listening to it

Chapter 5

Juliet approached the bleachers when suddenly an arm yanked her underneath.

"I hate you, you know that?" Santana forcefully pushed Juliet against the wall. "I really just fucking...hate you." Her last two words not holding as much steam as the rest of the sentence.

Juliet put down her school bag and stayed silent, suddenly regretting her song choice at glee. Santana glared at her and then started pacing.

"Are you absolutely insane? What part of, I want to keep what we are doing a secret, did not get through your head when you decided to sing that song today. You might be okay having the whole school know about you, but I'm not. I just..." Santana's voice faded as she stopped pacing and stood with her back to Juliet.

Juliet wanted to say something but nothing felt quite right. She was angry at Santana for completely ghosting her, but at the same time she was starting to realize how intense she probably came across. She just wanted Santana to talk to her.

"Your mom saw us, and I just freaked out." She paused, and then spoke more softly.

"I got scared. I got scared because when I was with you I felt something. Something I have only also felt for Brittany." She took a deep breath, and started pacing again. When she turned, Juliet could see the anguish in her eyes.

"I ran to Brittany's house, I just ran there and I begged her to break up with Artie so we could be together." She crossed her arms and held them against her stomach.

"She broke up with him but...but I know that she wants him back. She said she either wants to be with me publicly, or not at all." Santana stopped pacing and slumped to the ground, her back against the wall.

"I can't do that. I just can't do it. Not yet." She sighs. "And then you." She gestured towards Juliet. "You are just so...you. You care too much and I hate that. But I don't hate it at all. You're sweet and nice to me even when I am a huge bitch." Santana took a deep breath.  
"I think I was starting to fall for you and I didn't know how to handle it. Everything has always been about Brittany, and then suddenly it wasn't." Santana finally looked up at Juliet, tears falling down her face.

"I use people, and I let people use me. I sleep with guys because I don't care about them, and I like that power. I feel powerful when I don't feel vulnerable, and you make me feel vulnerable. You and Brittany make me feel vulnerable." She hung her head and stared at the ground.  
Juliet just stood there, not moving a muscle. A million thoughts running through her mind, but nothing that would form any coherent words. Her and Santana stay in an awkward silence for what feels like an eternity.

Santana wiped tears away from her cheeks. "You're officially the person who has seen me cry the most." She let out a halfhearted sigh. "I can't believe you showed up in glee today."  
Juliet decided to go sit next to her against the wall. She put a few inches of space between them and started playing with the blades of grass on the ground.

"I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to do a thing where I don't feel one hundred percent in control." Santana's voice sounded low.  
"I'm sorry I just ghosted you. For a few days there I thought maybe Brittany and I could just go back to how it was before. Both of us fake dating guys but secretly fooling around with each other. But Brittany doesn't want that anymore. She wants all or nothing, but more importantly she currently wants Artie. She actually likes him for whatever reason. I think its the closer parking space." Juliet knew Santana's harsh words were just a mask.

"She's...she's my best friend, and I can't lose her. Even if that means we just stay only friends." She sighed.  
Santana looked to her side where Juliet was still fumbling around with blades of grass.

"I'm sorry." She paused. "I didn't really know what I was hoping to gain from you, but what I ended up getting was a lot more than expected. This past week has been killing me, I kept wanting to text you but I thought it would just be easier to cut you right out." She paused. "I didn't think of what that would do to you."

Juliet continued to stare at the ground, twirling the same blade of grass through her fingers. Santana brought her knees up against her chest and rested her chin on them.  
"I'm terrified." Santana says. "I'm terrified because I didn't prepare for this to be a part of my life. I don't know what my parents would ever think. My abuela. The cheerios..."She faded off.

Juliet continued to sit in silence for a few minutes more as Santana stared out onto the empty football field.

"Want to sing a duet in glee club?" Juliet asked blankly, still staring at the ground.

"What?"

"Do you want to sing a duet in glee club." Juliet repeated. "We did everything backwards. Maybe we should re-start by just being friends in more places than my bedroom." She threw the blade of grass in her hand off to the side and turned to face Santana.

"I'm terrified too." She says tenderly. "I didn't realize how much I liked being around you until all of a sudden you were gone." Juliet took a deep breath.

"I'm already on thin ice with my parents - they've threatened to send me to conversion therapy before and I have no doubt they'll actually do it if they can find proof."

Juliet took Santana's hand. "But, I like you. I tried to not like you, I really did. You told me not to and I wanted to play by the rules but...I'm sorry I came on too strong at glee. I was just frustrated, I wanted answers." She sighed.

"I get that you like Brittany, but if she likes Artie maybe it's time to let her go. At least that part of her, I know she is still your best friend." Juliet looked off to the side.

"But I also want to be your friend. In public, at glee, in the hallway...can we just start there? No one is going to think you're gay just because you become friends with me. I have a lot of friends and unfortunately very few of them are gay." Juliet chuckled softly to herself.

"I'm going to stay in glee club - I didn't join just to piss you off. I actually like a lot of the people there and performing today felt really good. Maybe if we can just try being public friends, we can see what ends up happening in private. I don't want to do anything you're uncomfortable with Santana, but I also don't want to lose you completely either." Juliet hoisted herself up off the ground. She reached down and offered a hand.

Santana paused and then accepted the lift up. They both stood facing each other in silence.

"You've got to play the guitar."

"What?"

"For our duet. You were great today on the guitar and the song we do should include you playing." Santana offered.

"Okay." Juliet smiled.

Santana wrapped her arms around Juliet and pulled her in for a hug and they both stood in the embrace for a few moments.  
"Parks and Rec? I couldn't watch without you and I have been dying." Santana let go of the embrace, leaving a hand on her shoulder.

Juliet grinned, "Absolutely, lets go."

* * *

As the rest of the week went on, Juliet found herself happier than she'd ever been. Her and Santana had been hanging out working on their duet for glee, and they really were becoming actual friends this time. Santana can be snarky and guarded but when she lets all of that go she's fun to be around. Juliet also started sitting at Kurt's table for lunch more often then not, and she was thankful for their immediate acceptance of her. Joining glee gave her friends that felt like family, mostly because just like family they were all extremely different and argued with each other all the time, but none-the-less it felt nice to be included.

When Mr. Schue was back he welcomed Juliet into the club with open arms. Sectionals was coming up and they all wanted to win more than anything.

"Mr. Schue?" Juliet raised her hand during a rehearsal a few weeks later. "Santana and I have been working on a song that we want to share."  
Kurt looked at Juliet and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged back at him.

"All right ladies, lets hear it!" Mr. Schue clapped enthusiastically. Juliet looked over at Santana and smiled. She got a smile back and they both stood up and went down to the front. She grabbed an electric guitar and positioned her fingers on the first chord. Santana got ready to sing the first verse.

 _(We Belong - Pat Benetar (cover by Everly specifically))_  
 _Many times I tried to tell you_  
 _Many times I cried alone_  
 _Always I'm surprised how well you cut my feelings to the bone_  
 _Don't want to leave you really_  
 _I've invested too much time to give you up that easy_  
 _To the doubts that complicate your mind_

Juliet came in with the guitar and the girls sang the chorus together.

 _We belong to the light, we belong to the thunder_  
 _We belong to the sound of the words we've both fallen under_  
 _Whatever we deny or embrace for worse or for better_  
 _We belong, we belong, we belong together_

Juliet picked up the next verse and then they both came back together for the chorus. When they end the room erupted into applause. Juliet noticed Santana look at Brittany, who was sitting with Artie. Brittany half smiled towards her but then turned her attention back to her boyfriend.

Juliet immediately frowned. They chose the song because they loved the arrangement they found for two singers, she didn't really think Santana would use it to send Brittany a message. Truth be told, Juliet was hoping this song would send a message to Santana more than anything. This whole being just friends thing for all three of them was going to be more complicated than Juliet initially thought. She still really liked Santana, and she knew Santana liked her back but there was always going to be Brittany. Not to mention, Santana still felt so insecure about everything that she continued to "date" Puck, no matter how many times Juliet told her that was unnecessary.

"I didn't realize you guys were friends." Quinn skeptically looked over at Santana. Juliet turned towards Santana from where she sat back down next to Mercedes and nervously awaited her reply.

"She's the captain of the varsity tennis team, I'm surprised you aren't friends with her. She's cool." She snapped back at her. Juliet and Santana locked eyes and Juliet raised her eyebrows trying to stifle a laugh. Santana smiled and shrugged. Quinn sat back uncomfortably.

Kurt rolled his eyes, not believing that no one else in the room could see what was going on. He texted Juliet asking if she wanted to go to the Lima Bean and grab a coffee after rehearsal was over.

* * *

Juliet sat opposite Kurt at the Lima Bean and sipped on an ice tea.

"Okay, I'm going to cut to the chase here." Kurt put his drink down and leaned in so he didn't speak so loudly.

"You have to stop whatever you're doing with Santana. She's going to swallow you whole."

"Pfft, I don't know what you're talking about we are just friends." Juliet said as she avoided eye contact. Kurt gave her a wary look.

"Please, I observe everything. No one else has caught on but you two are not hiding anything."

Juliet rolled her eyes and then got serious. "Okay listen, it started out as just a fun little thing between us but now there really is nothing going on I swear. We are just friends now. Friends who actually hang out in public, unlike before." Juliet looked around the coffee shop before continuing.

"You can't tell anyone." She paused. "Santana...I mean just...listen I am gay okay. We know this. I may not be ready to be out and proud like you but...if people know, I'll be fine. But leave her out of it."

Kurt set his coffee down and gave her a solemn look. "I'm not here to out anyone. Of all the people in school I know how much it sucks. I'm just worried about you. Don't let her wrap you up in her games."

"I appreciate your concern but we are in a good place right now." Juliet takes another sip of her tea. Kurt starts to grin.

"On the plus side, you definitely just admitted out loud to me that you're gay, you know that right?" He looks downright jolly.

Juliet smiles. "I know right! I'm trying to be better about it. I'm so tired of living in the closet. Or a half closet I guess since there was that rumor-which wasn't a rumor-about me at the beginning of the school year."

"Just be careful. You've seen what Karofsky does to me, I don't want you getting the same treatment."

Juliet looks down and pauses a minute before answering. "How are things going with that anyways?"

Kurt sighs. "It's not getting any better. He's got a lot of secrets and problems in his life but he continues to take it out on me and I'm getting really tired of it. The administration won't even do anything about it."

"Is there any way I could help?"

Kurt half smiles at her. "I appreciate that. But I don't know what anyone can do. Thankfully, I have my dad's wedding to Finn's mom to plan so that has kept me distracted."

Juliet perks up. "Oh yeah! That's so exciting."

The two of them continue talking about that until Santana calls Juliet.

 _"Hello?"_ She answers.

 _"Hey J, wanna have some fun?"_

Juliet smiles.


	6. Chapter 6 - Fake IDs

**Notes**

Hey all! Thanks for sticking with me again whoever is still reading. I know a lot of the chapters are just stand-alone Juliet and Santana moments but I am going to be incorporating them a lot more into the glee club now.

I'm sort of following the outline of S2 as far as episodes go, but will definitely deviate a little bit from canon for certain characters as I go along.

Chapter 6

It was 8pm on a friday night when Santana drove up Juliet's driveway and texted her to get into the car. Juliet tried to pretend like she hadn't just spent that last hour finding something to wear and fixing her hair just right. She settled on black skinny jeans, a short sleeved maroon button up that had small white patterns on it, and her black faux-leather bomber jacket. Was a bowtie too much? She had no idea what Santana had planned for the night and even though they were officially just friends, she always felt the need to try and impress her. Not to mention the fact that Brittany was supposed to join them at some point. The three of them decided to try and all be friends, as if it was easier said then done. They had hung out a few times and it had been fun but Juliet had a jealous tick in her that she just couldn't shake when Brittany was around. She threw a snapback on her head for the sake of being casual.

When Juliet got into the car she had to pause a second to take in the look of Santana. She looked good, like real good. She had on a sleek form fitting black dress that she paired with a white leather jacket, it seemed simple but she looked done up, like she had taken extra time. Plus it was always a bonus to see Santana out of the cheerios uniform.

"Whoa, where's the party at S. You're looking extra nice." Juliet remembered what words were as she finally sat down and buckled.  
"Oh you know, just hoping to see where the night takes us. First stop, my house. Mi familia is gone tonight and I know how to get into the liquor cabinet." Santana seemed almost giddy.

"Yes ma'am!" Juliet jokingly saluted. "Anything to get out of my house. My parents keep watching me like a hawk lately. It's like when they sense happiness on me they make it their mission to change it to misery."

"Fuck that. This is why we are friends. So I can bring you out of that misery and teach you how to be cool and have fun." Santana reached over and pulled open the glove compartment in front of Juliet at a red light. "Grab the envelope in there." She instructed.

Juliet obliged and then opened it. Inside were two plastic cards, she flipped them over and read what was on one.  
"Jacklyn Romero. Born 1989." She paused in confusion. "Why do you have a Maine state ID for some girl whose like year- oh." Her eyes got wide and she turned to Santana. "Are these fake ID's?"

Santana grinned. "They look legit right? Brittany's cousin hooked us up. I've used mine once or twice and it has never failed me."  
Juliet finally picked her jaw up off the floor. "I...I mean...that's impressive. I've never seen one before but it does look pretty real." She flipped the cards back and forth to get a good look. "Where is Brittany tonight anyways?"

"Oh." Santana's face dropped for only a moment before she casually said, "She was going to come hang but her Mom needs her to do something - I don't really know honestly." She shrugged. "The point is, it's just us two tonight." Santana looked over at Juliet. "I hope that's okay."  
Juliet all but busts out in laughter. "Uh, yeah. That is okay with me."

They drive up to Santana's house and go inside. She quickly picked the lock of the liquor cabinet, as if she could do it in her sleep, and soon enough the tequila was flowing through their veins. Santana turned on some music and they continued to chat about school and life as they tipsily swayed back and forth to the beat.

Juliet sat down on a comfy recliner chair at one point as Santana dramatically told a long story about something her cousin had done last Christmas.  
"...and he literally sits up on the mall santa's lap like this, " She stumbled onto Juliet's lap, which took them both by surprise. They had tried to avoid intimate contact since it came out that they both might have actual feelings for each other. Attempting to just be friends instead of trying to complicate things more made sense, right? Except it didn't work. Santana still flirted with Juliet endlessly and Juliet loved it.

They both stared at each other for just a beat too long. Santana recovered herself quickly and noticed Juliet's cheeks flushing red. She leaned into her ear and flirtily whispered, "You're cute," and pecked a quick kiss on her cheek. If she had stayed sitting on that chair with her for a second longer, Juliet would not have been able to hold back from pulling her down into a real kiss. But Santana got up and clumsily peeled herself away.

"And well anyways, the story isn't important." She went and put her drink down on a side table. "I think it's time we go to the bar."

"The bar?"

"Yup, we are going to a bar." She left the room for a moment to grab the envelope they brought in from the car. "With these IDs'. Come on it will be fun."

Juliet sat there skeptical for a beat, sure she started drinking this past summer and she wasn't an extreme goody-two-shoes but this felt a little intense. However as she looked up at Santana, who had a goofy smile on her face like she was so proud of herself, and her anxieties faded away.

* * *

The two of them sat side by side on the local bus, their arms linked together as they lightly shivered.

"You failed to mention that we needed to take a bus for 20 minutes to get to wherever this illustrious bar is." Juliet grumbled.  
"It's not in Lima, just chill out. Way less chance of anyone we know seeing us." Santana lowered her face towards Juliet and whispered. "Plus, it's a gay bar."

Juliet jerked her head back. "WHAT?" Santana looked around the bus to see if that outburst got anyone's attention.

"Calm yo tits. It's okay. Apparently it's ladies night or something." She tried to sound nonchalant but Juliet could hear the soft tremble in her voice.

Juliet stifled a laugh. "Oh, I am calm . This is something else. You mean to tell me that you, Santana Lopez, closeted queer, are really taking me to a gay bar tonight." She couldn't hold in a laugh any longer.

"For the girl who seems terrified to be outed, have you looked at me lately? I look as gay as one could look. Not that there is any one way to look gay but ... damn girl you confuse me. You want to be seen with me at a gay bar?"

Santana frowned. "Well if you don't want to go, then get the hell off the bus." She leaned back against the seat and crossed her arms.  
Juliet smiled. "No, this is just perfect. I can't wait to see how this night goes." Her voice was full of tease.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Santana huffed and uncrossed her arms. "Okay listen, I used to want to check out this place before when I was really freaking out about liking Brittany and wanting to figure out if it was just her or if I, you know..." She faded off.

"If you can't say the words, I'm not sure if you're ready to enter this world." Juliet was having too much fun with this.

"Oh whatever. Like you are even in that world." Santana barked back but the words had no bite to them.

"More than you." Juliet teased. She noticed Santana roll her eyes. "Hey okay, I am sorry. Cut me some slack, this is possibly the last thing I expected you to suggest we do tonight. I can't say I'm not curious what it is like either. We are in this together okay?" She grabbed Santana's hand.

Santana quickly snatched her hand away and looked around the bus to see if anyone noticed. "Let's make a deal J. Whoever can get the most drinks bought for them tonight wins."

"Wins what?"

"To be determined." The sparkle came back in Santana's eye. She loved to play games.

* * *

They easily passed the bouncer at the door. Juliet had to hand it to Santana, she definitely looked older than her age - in all the right places - and that helped distract him from Juliet who mostly just hid behind her.

They looked all around, taking in the sight. It wasn't the most hopping bar but it was fairly crowded. Ladies of all shapes, sizes, ages, and dress codes were milling about, chatting with one another. There was music blaring on the speakers, Juliet recognized it as a Tegan and Sara song.

"Well if that's not just the biggest cliché in the world..." She muttered to herself.

"What?" Santana asked.

"Nothing, lets grab a drink." Juliet let go of Santana's hand and hoisted herself up on a bar stool.

They ordered themselves drinks and looked around until Juliet spotted a dart board in the back next to some pool tables.  
"Oh! Darts! Let's go play." She slid off her chair with her drink in hand and started towards the back.

"Oh Jesus." Santana said under her breath. "I'm good, I'll stay here." She hollered so Juliet could hear her.

Juliet threw back a thumbs up. She was tipsy and feeling feisty. Santana had her emotions all confused. The first few days after their conversation under the bleachers, Santana and Juliet fell really easily into a mutual friendship. It was every time Brittany came around to hang that Santana felt like a different person. She couldn't figure out if Santana was purposefully playing games or just so confused herself that she couldn't make up her mind. She thought about how she should've listened to Kurt, Santana was only going to mess with her. But she was already addicted and there was no going back. However tonight, Juliet decided that she wasn't going to take anymore of her crap. She was going to have fun regardless, and not think about the consequences until tomorrow.

Santana stayed seated at the bar, running her finger up and down the condensation on the side of her glass. She glanced around at the people in her vicinity. Who even was her type? She thought to herself. She was attracted to Brittany, who was pretty girly with long flowy blond hair. But also Juliet, who would never wear a dress in her life and sported short curly brown hair. Before she had a second to think, a girl slid into the seat that Juliet was previously occupying. Mid-length brown hair and wearing a plain black v-neck tee, the mystery stranger leaned in to speak over the music.

"Is this seat taken?"  
Santana smiled. "It is now."

Over in the corner of the bar, Juliet was having the time of her life. She had won two out of three darts games she played against random strangers, and was now on the first game of pool. She had a whole group of people with her at this point, and was three free drinks in.

Santana looked over at Juliet and felt a spike of jealously. The girl sitting in front of her was boring her to no end. Santana had always been confident in her ability to flirt, what she didn't realize until now, was that it was only because she usually did it to men - who were the easiest kinds of people to manipulate.

When she saw Juliet lean in close to whisper something to some pretty blond chick, something in her just clicked. She jumped off her bar stool.  
"Sorry, excuse me." She set her drink down and without a second glance to the stranger at the bar, she walked straight back towards Juliet.

"Heyyy! There you are!" She hollers convincingly as if she had just arrived and had been searching for Juliet.

Santana grabs her by the waist and kisses her. "I'm glad I found you."

Juliet looked at her confused, and then the confusion turned into anger. "Uhh...what are you doing?"

"Just meeting my girlfriend at the bar, like I always do." Santana looked smug as she glanced over at the group of people just staring at them.

Juliet pushed her away. "You're NOT my girlfriend." As she said that, the blond girl leaned over and said "Is she bothering you?"

Before Juliet could respond, Santana linked their arms and cut in. "I'm not bothering her. We came here together." She started to yank Juliet away and towards the door. "Don't get too upset ladies - she's SIXTEEN. Might want to check yourselves before you wreck yourselves." Not her best line she would admit.

Santana dragged Juliet out of the bar and they stumbled onto the sidewalk where Juliet leaned against a brick wall.

"What the FUCK was that Santana!?" She hollered, her words slightly slurring together.

Santana grabbed the sides of her face and pulled her in for a hard kiss. Juliet accepted it for a minute until it caught up to her brain what was happening. She pushed her away.

"FUCKING STOP IT!" Juliet never swore as much as she did while she was drunk.

Santana leaned in. "You look hot tonight."

Juliet pushed her away and started walking down the sidewalk. "What the hell is your angle? I was having fun in there."

Santana followed her. "Yeah well I wasn't. Seeing you flirt with those girls, it was embarrassing. You're not very good at it."

Juliet halted in her tracks and wheeled around. "Stop that."  
She leaned back against the wall and sighed. "I can't do this shit anymore Santana. You can't make all the decisions in whatever kind of friendship we have, I'm not your toy. I'm not second best to Brittany. I am my own person and I fucking like you. You know that and you're using it to mess with me. I am fine with us just being friends like we said, but you're making it really difficult. What's the real reason you just pulled me out of the bar huh!?"

Juliet took a deep breath and rubbed her temples. The alcohol was making her word vomit but also was starting to give her a real headache. She gave Santana a minute to answer, but nothing came out of her mouth. Juliet looked up and glared at her.

"Okay well fuck you then. Have a nice life, I'm going home." Juliet pulled out her phone and started walking in the direction of the bus stop.

Santana stayed still on the sidewalk. Juliet was right, she had just been treating her like she didn't matter. Santana wanted the best of both worlds but sometimes you just have to make a decision. Just because Brittany couldn't give her what she needed right now, didn't mean she could just take advantage of Juliet.

She tried to call Juliet's phone as she started walking in the same direction. It went straight to voicemail every time but as she turned the second corner she practically fell over Juliet, who was sitting down on the sidewalk with her head in her arms. Santana sat down next to her.

"Are you okay?" She asked pensively.

"My phone died and I don't really know where I am." Juliet spoke through her arms.

Santana took a deep breath. "Can you look at me for a second?"

Juliet slowly turned so her head faced Santana but her cheek still rested against her arms.

"What could you possibly want from me?" Juliet weakly asked.

"I was jealous." Santana tried to hold eye contact for as long as she could, but she never had been good at being vulnerable to someone else.

"In the bar. I was jealous. I'm really good at pretending to be someone that I'm not, but you are really good at just being yourself. You might be scared but you don't show it. Ever since I met you, it's like the sun enters the room whenever you're around. It's infectious, it's attractive, and it also makes me feel insecure."  
She paused. "I think I have been just trying to convince myself we can be friends when I don't think we really can be."

Santana's head stayed facing the ground. Juliet sighed and propped her own head up with one hand.

"What are you trying to say?"

"You're absolutely magical, and you make me feel wanted in the way that I don't think Brittany can give me right now. But I've been treating you like second best. You're worth so much more than the shit I've been putting you through. I care too much about you to keep you in this cycle of mine. I only know how to hurt people."

"Santana, you piss me off." Juliet stood up and went to lean back against the wall.

"Why can't you just let yourself be happy? You keep fighting every good thing that happens to you as if you don't deserve it. On the outside you're snarky and bitchy and get everything you think you want but it's nothing you actually care about." Juliet threw her hands up in the air and continued ranting.

"However you say I make you feel, you make me feel the same way - you just can't see it. Yeah, you've put me through an emotional rollercoaster but I've also never felt more free. It's so damn hard knowing the world is against you. What teenage girl doesn't want their life to be like some Nicholas Sparks book or John Hughes movie but mine can never be like that. No matter how hard I try or how badly I wish to just be like everyone else, it's never going to happen. But whenever we were together you just let me be me. We've learned a lot from each other. If you really want us to stop being friends then fine, we can go back to how it was at the beginning of the school year. But I don't think you want that. I sure as hell don't want that. But you have to grow up and tell me, or I'm done." Juliet crossed her arms.

Santana got up off the sidewalk and went over to Juliet. She looked into her eyes and saw anguish staring back at her. She could feel herself wanting to retreat, to hide all her real feelings and run away. But she couldn't let herself. She wouldn't. Juliet was right, why was she trying so hard to make herself unhappy. Life doesn't always go as planned, but that's what is so great about it.

She took one of Juliet's hands. "Okay you want the truth?" She paused.  
"The truth is that I don't know how to understand what I want. I've never been afraid of anything in my life. I go after what will make me popular and usually it's given to me. But all of this," She waved her hand around in the air, "this is uncharted territory for me. I want to be honest and real with you but it's like I'm fighting a war inside myself."

Santana paused, trying to not let a tear escape her eye. She hated feeling so open.  
"But, I really like you. As painful as it is, you encourage me to be open and honest and I really need that."

Juliet took that opportunity to take Santana's other hand into hers.  
"I really think we can make this work." Juliet tilted her head to the side and looked at Santana's expression.

"You think so?" Santana's tone sounded so small.

"I want you, and only you. I don't need it to be some big public announcement, I don't need anything except for you. I think we can be good for each other. If you could only just let me in." Juliet brought one of Santana's hands up to her heart and held it there.

"I really like you too Santana. Every part."

Santana pulled Juliet in, their lips connected and the world faded away. The kiss was slow and deliberate and felt nothing like any kiss they've previously shared. This one felt like a new beginning.

When they broke, Santana pulled her in for a hug and she could feel her heart beating against her chest.

"Santana Lopez." Juliet smiled. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Santana laughed as a tear escaped the side of her eye. "Yes. Yes Juliet Sanders, I want to be your girlfriend."

Juliet sighed a huge breath she didn't realize she was holding in.

"But, just so we are clear, I want to be with you but I still don't think I'm ready to be out yet." Santana held her breath while bracing herself for Juliet's reaction.

Juliet brought her hand up to Santana's cheek and wiped away the tear that stained her face.

"I know." She said. "I'm not exactly all the way out either. I think that what we need to do is to not feel like we are each two different people when we are at school versus at home."

Santana nods. "Right. I should treat you the same way at school as I would outside of it, just you know, minus the kissing, touching, hand holding and the whole thing."

Juliet laughs. "Yeah exactly that. There's tons of people who are together but the public doesn't know it. Celebrities do it all time."

"Well I am basically a celebrity at school so..." Santana winked and pulled Juliet in for a quick kiss.

"Thank you." Santana says to her softly. "For not giving up on me. I don't really know what I am doing but I want to try."

"I don't think anybody really knows what they are doing in high school if that makes you feel any better. Although I do know one thing we should be doing, and that is getting on a bus and going back to Lima." Juliet looked around. "I can't believe we've been out here for so long, it's kind of sketchy around here!"

Santana looked around for what she felt like was the first time. "Uh yeah, whoops. Okay I know where the bus stop is. Let's head there before there are no more buses the rest of the night."

"For the record. I did win you know." Juliet said as they started walking down the street.

"Win what?"

"Our bet. And the prize was well worth the wait."

Santana rolled her eyes at Juliet but couldn't suppress her smile.

The two of them linked arms and hopped the bus back to Lima. Juliet wrapped her arm around her girlfriend as Santana fell asleep on her shoulder.


	7. Chapter 7 - Songs of you

**_**NOTES**_**

Hey anyone reading this! Sorry it's been some weeks in between chapters.

I must give credit to my friend Kimby ( twitter:kimbyinprogress)! She has helped me a lot with story outlines, and continues to for the rest of the fic.

As usual, I don't own anything related to Glee, Fox, or any other show I may reference in this or future chapters. I only own my original character.

Please leave a comment to let me know what you think!

 **Chapter 7**

Mr. Schue walked into world war 3 in the choir room one Monday morning. He sighed as he tossed his bag by his chair.

"ENOUGH!" He slammed his hand on the piano and then gave an apologetic look to Brad the piano player.

"You guys have been fighting non-stop for an entire week now. What happened to being a team? Supporting each other?"

Everyone stared a Mr. Schue with blank expressions. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Everyone take a second to look to your right, and then to your left." Mr. Schue instructed.

Juliet looked to her right and Santana smiled at her and squeezed her leg for a brief moment. Juliet looked to her left and saw Artie. He waved at her and she smiled back awkwardly.

"You all think you know each other, but for some of you it's just on the surface." He ripped a blank piece of paper out of a notebook and handed it to Artie with a pen.  
"I want everyone to write their name on this paper and then rip it off and put it up here in this hat. I was flipping through TV channels this weekend and saw something on a show that sparked this idea."

"Please don't tell me we are doing duets again." Puck pipped up.

"Everyone is going to draw a name out of this hat, and for the remainder of practice you and your partner will go somewhere else on school grounds and get to know each other." Mr. Schue pulled another paper out of his folder. "I've come up with some questions you will ask."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Mr. Schue, is this necessary? I already know everything I care to know about these people"

"You guys need to be more compassionate to each other, you are in glee club. If you don't root for each other, how can you expect anyone else to root for you?" He answered.  
"What I want to happen at the end of the next hour is two things." He collected everyone's papers with their names on it and shuffled them around in the hat.  
"The first thing is, each person is going to pick a song for their partner to perform. Something that you think accurately describes who they are or what they're going through after you've gotten to know them better."

The room's reaction was mixed, some groaning and some excitement. Santana leaned over to Juliet and whispered.  
"I hope I get you and we can spend the next hour under the bleachers." She winked. Juliet blushed a little and giggled.

Quinn looked down at the two of them and raised her eyebrow.

"The second thing is, you're going to use your phones to take a picture of your partner. A picture that represents how you see the person you are paired with."

"I knew Mr. Schue was a One Tree Hill fan." Brittany quietly celebrated.

Mr. Schue ignored the comment and had everyone come up one by one until each person was paired up and there didn't need to be anymore drawing.  
Santana opened her paper. "Tubster Mcgee... oh great..." She turned to look at Finn who just raised an eyebrow with that dumbfounded puppy look on his face.

Juliet looked around to see who got her.  
"Thank God." Kurt came over and sat next to her. He showed her his paper that had Juliet's name scribbled on it.

* * *

Juliet and Kurt set up shop in an empty classroom.

"I feel like the past couple of weeks have been crazy. I haven't gotten to see you as much." Juliet sat on top of a desk and crossed her legs.

Kurt sighed. "I know. At this point I'm just trying to make it through each day."

Juliet frowned, she knew there was a lot of weight to that sentence but didn't want to press the issue. She took the paper Mr. Schue gave them and read the first question.

"Tell your partner something personal." Juliet chuckled slightly. "Mr. Schue really did get this from that One Tree Hill episode huh."

Kurt had a half smile on his face. "He's an interesting man." He looked around the classroom and picked up a pen to twirl around in his fingers. "Something personal hmm." He stared off into space.

"I'll go first." Juliet took a deep breath. Kurt turned his attention back to her.

"I guess I don't know if this is considered personal as much as it is just a secret but...Santana and I are officially dating." Juliet grimaced waiting for his reaction.

Kurt's eyes got wide but then he broke out into a smile. "No way!"  
He noticed her reaction. "Hey if you're happy, then I'm happy. Regardless of my opinion on Santana, I trust that you're smart enough to know what you're doing."

Juliet breathed out a sigh of relief. She grinned. "It was a process for us to get here but we just have this connection that I can't shake. But, it's a huge secret. Santana I think would rather die than have anyone know, and while that kind of bugs me, I can understand it." Juliet shrugged.

Kurt sighed. "Well, normally I'd say that being yourself is what's going to make you the happiest but lately I'm not so sure anymore."  
Juliet looked at him with a questioning face.

"I guess something that no one really knows is that, I really want to transfer to Dalton Academy." Kurt stared down at the ground.  
Juliet stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

"It was just...perfect. All I could've ever dreamed of. They have a zero-tolerance bullying policy, the warblers are considered rock stars, and there are a lot of guys there that are out and proud. McKinley is just so stuck in it's own way and it's really crushing my spirit." He paused. "And my spine...I think I've counted 3 times just today that Karofskey has shoved me against lockers."

"Oh my God Kurt. There has got to be something the principal can do about that, it's physical violence!" Juliet raised her voice.

Kurt just shook his head defeated. "I've already tried. Something about plausible deniability." He sighed. "Anyways, it doesn't matter because Dalton is a private school and it costs money to go there. With my dad's wedding, and then his medical expenses from a few month ago...there is just no way."

"Maybe we can do a fundraiser or something. I don't want you to leave but you shouldn't have to feel unsafe at school either." Juliet felt her phone buzz as she spoke. She quickly checked it.

 _SL: this. is. so. boring. Finn keeps yapping about the midget and it's making me feel sick._

* * *

Santana lay on the edge of the stage in the auditorium with her feet dangling down as she held her phone above her head, not paying attention. She continued to text Juliet.

 _SL: wanna ditch this and go to breadstix? my abuela gave me a coupon she found_.

"Come on Santana. I've answered two of the questions already. How are you supposed to figure out what song I should sing for glee club if you won't even pay attention." Finn held the paper in his hand as he sighed.

"I already know what song I'm going to sing, and it's called 'bored to death'." She shot back, not looking away from her phone.

Finn sighed, annoyed. "Yeah well I think instead you should sing the song 'bitch'." As soon as he said it his eyes went wide.

Santana put her phone down and sat up. "Oh Finn. Finn, Finn, Finn. You do not want to get on my bad side buddy. Don't you forget that I know you lied to Rachel about our little night of passion. It would be a shame if she somehow heard about it..."

"Santana, don't you dare." Finn tensed up.

Santana rolled her eyes as her phone vibrated.

 _JS: San, just do the assignment. it's kind of therapeutic. we can go to breadstix after school, my treat. :P_

"UGGHHH" Santana growled as she laid back down on the stage, her feet continuing to dangle off.

* * *

Juliet stood in the middle of the classroom practicing her tennis swing as Kurt picked up the paper and read the next question.  
"Tell your partner something you're afraid of."

Juliet continued practicing as she thought about the question. She was afraid of spiders, heights, and horror movies but somehow those didn't seem like the right answers for this assignment.

Kurt hummed. "I think mine really goes hand in hand with the first question. I'm afraid that I might die in this high school."

Juliet stopped her swing practice and turned to face him. "Kurt..."

He just shrugged and tried to keep back the tears forming in his eyes.

"It's the fear that is the worst part of it all. He's twice the size of me and I don't know when he's going to show up. It could be any part of the day. It sounds so silly when I talk about it out loud but, you've never seen the look in his eyes."

Juliet went over and put her arm around Kurt.  
"High school sucks. Why do people care so much about who we like or how we express ourselves? We aren't hurting anyone."

Kurt sighed and shook his head. "I don't know. I feel like I can't bother my dad too much about this either because I'm afraid if he gets too stressed he will have another heart attack. That's something else I am afraid of I guess."

Juliet and Kurt sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

"It's dumb but I don't want to wear the dresses that the girls always have to wear for competitions. I don't feel comfortable in them, I don't feel like I can really be me if I am forced to dress all girly. I want to ask Mr. Schue if I can wear what the guys wear - pants and button ups or something, but I don't know how he will react."

Kurt leaned his head on Juliet's shoulder. "It doesn't hurt to talk to him about it."

* * *

"Like what would I have to be afraid of? I am the top bitch at this school. It's more like everyone should be afraid of me." Santana continued to avoid the questions.

Finn sat there for a moment. "Can you at least tell me a song I should sing so Mr. Schue thinks we completed the assignment?"

Santana scoffed at him and checked her phone for new text messages but there were none. She stayed silent. After a few minutes of no interaction, Finn jumped off the edge of the stage and threw the paper down.

"You don't take anything seriously Santana! Do you even like being in glee club? Why do you do it?"

"Yeah maybe I should rethink my choices seeing as all the rest of us ever do is sway in the background behind you and the hobbit. You know, just once I'd like to get a solo. Give the audience a break from the constipated look you get on your face when you try to hit a high note." She sneered at him.

Finn shook his head. "Well, if you aren't going to be honest with me, at least promise you won't tell anyone what I've told you." He grabbed his jacket and started to pack up his things. "Everyone is afraid of something. I think you're just masking it behind your snarky attitude."

Santana watched him grab his bag. She chewed on her bottom lip as she thought for a second. "I'm afraid no one will ever truly love me." She said softly.

Finn turned around mid-step as he was about to walk away. "What?" he asked faintly.

Santana stared down at the ground, fighting the urge to go into defense mode.  
"I'm afraid that ... I'm afraid that I won't find someone to truly love me, the way I love. I don't let people in very easily and even when I do I still have some kind of guard up. I don't think anyone I truly care about will want to stay long enough to really break me down."

She paused and took a deep breath. "That and the fact that...well...I...you know nevermind."

Finn put his bag down and hopped back up on the edge of the stage. He started to put his arm around her shoulder. "Santana you know -"

"Nope." Santana shrugged his arm off of her and hopped down from the stage. " This assignment is lame." She grabbed her cheerios jacket off an auditorium seat.

"Barney and friends sharing circle is officially closed." She walked towards the door, but turned around right before she reached it.

"If you ever fucking repeat what I told you, I will end you." With that, she shoved open the double doors and left.

* * *

Juliet stood at her locker after the glee hour was over, emptying the contents of her backpack. Santana strolled up next to her and leaned her head against the wall.

"Hey, how did your time with Finn go?" Juliet smiled and shut her locker door so she could see her girlfriends face. What she saw was an expression of distress.

"Are you okay? Did something happ-"

"Am I loveable?" Santana interrupted her.

"San, of course you are. Did Finn say something to make you thi-"

"Everyone I've been with just uses me for something physical and then they move on. They don't want to deal with my crazy. I mean who goes from me to a boy in a wheelchair? Even you and I started out as just a means to an end, I mean I think that -"

"Santana stop." Juliet grabbed her hand but quickly dropped it when she remembered they were at school.

"You are lovable. I'm not with you because its really fun when we make out or because I like watching you walk down the hall in that cheerios uniform - although those things do help. But if we never kissed again I'd still want to be around you. I like getting to know the real you. Like how I know underneath your sarcastic cutting jokes that you're just a big softy." She poked her gently.

Santana smirked. "Don't tell anyone, it will ruin my reputation." She looked around the hallway and then pulled Juliet in for a hug.

Around the corner Quinn leaned against the wall clutching her books to her chest. She watched the two of them interact with a bemused expression on her face.

"Are we still on for breadstix tonight?" Santana asked quietly as they pulled apart from the hug.

"You bet." Juliet winked at her.

They parted ways and Quinn jumped up, trying to not make it obvious that she had been staring at them.

"Hi Quinn." Unaware, Juliet smiled as she walked past the girl.

"Hi, uh hey." Quinn stuttered and then turned the other direction down the hall.

* * *

 _I know a place where no one's lost,_  
 _I know a place where no one cries,_  
 _Crying at all is not allowed,_  
 _Not in my castle on a cloud._

Kurt finished up his song that Juliet selected for him to sing after the assignment - Castle on a Cloud from the broadway musical Les Miserables.

Juliet smiled and clapped loudly for him as Mr. Schue went back up to the front.  
"That was a very moving performance Kurt, thank you for sharing." He clapped his hand on Kurt's back and tried to guide him back to his seat.

"Mr. Schue. If you don't mind I have an announcement." Kurt looked solemn.

Mr. Schue gestured for him to take back control of the floor.

"As you all know, the intolerance this school is becoming too much for me to bare. With Karofskey still here, every day I walk the hallways afraid. I can't concentrate on any of my schoolwork and my grades are suffering."

Juliet looked around at her fellow glee club members and all of them had pained expressions on their faces.

"I had a talk with my dad and Carole last night. They are being more than gracious to me, and they offered to use their honeymoon money to help me out." He paused and sighed.

"That is why, effective immediately, I'm transferring to Dalton Academy."

Juliet's mouth dropped open as the bell rang.


	8. Chapter 8 - Sectionals

*NOTES*

Please leave comments and let me know what you think!  
Again thank you to my friend Kimby (twitter: kimbyinprogress) for helping me outline this chapter!

 **Chapter 8**

Sectionals was just around the corner and everyone was buzzing with excitement. Mr. Schue finally decided to let some other people besides Rachel and Finn sing solos and Juliet could not be more proud of Santana being picked as one of them. Her sultry voice fit perfectly in "Valerie" and with Brittany and Mike's sweet dance moves, there was no way they were not going to win!

"As far as costumes go, we were thinking simple." Tina addressed the rest of the club. "The guys wear maroon long sleeve button downs with black pants, and for the girls we have something like this." She held up a sleeveless black and white dress that stopped right around the knees. "Black leggings would go underneath, mostly for Brittany's sake because of all the flips her and Mike are doing."

Brittany fist pumped into the air and smiled. The rest of the club murmured agreement, no one really seemed to care much. Juliet felt her stomach twist into knots. The last time she wore a dress was the Sadie Hawkin's dance in 6th grade because her mom made her ask some kid from Sunday School. It was then she vowed to never have to wear one again. She figured by her wedding day, her mom was going to know she was gay one way or another so the whole 'not wearing a dress thing' might be lower down on the list of things she would care about.

Mercedes glanced over at Juliet. "Hey Jules, you okay? You look a bit green."

Juliet looked around the room, wondering if she should even attempt to bring this up. One smile from Santana gave her all the courage she needed. She raised her hand. "Mr. Schue? I have a question."

He motioned for her to continue. "I was curious if...would anyone have an issue with me maybe, wearing the guys version of the costume instead of uh...instead of the dress?"

The room went quiet for a couple beats.

"Um, why?" Quinn broke the silence.

Juliet fidgeted nervously in her seat. "I just don't feel comfortable in dresses."

Mr. Schue sat down in his chair. "Well Juliet, we have already choreographed some of the numbers to match the outfits for guys and girls. I'm not sure..."

"I think J could rock it." Brittany spoke up. Juliet glanced down the row to see Brittany hold her fist up in solidarity. She raised her eyebrow in confusion but smiled back at Britt none the less.

"I guess since Kurt is gone, it would make the outfits more even. Wouldn't it?" Sam looked to Mr. Schue for confirmation. Next to Sam, Finn started quietly counting on his fingers to see if he was right.

Mr. Schue opened his mouth to speak but Artie cut in. "She already has the short haircut. I don't think it would look weird."

Juliet was about to say something about how the short haircut really had no correlation, but decided not to argue against the person sticking up for her.

Santana spoke up. "I mean, did we all forget that Kurt had been known to wear a skirt or kilt to school a time or two. This is no different."

Juliet smiled softly at Santana.

"That was never for a performance though Santana -" Mr. Schue started to argue back.

"All in favor of Juliet wearing the button down at sectionals raise your hand." Santana interrupted him as she put her hand up and looked around the room. Everyone raised their hand except Quinn, who gave in a couple seconds later with an eye roll.

"That settles that." Santana crossed her arms and looked at Mr. Schue with her bitch face expression on.

Mr. Schue shrugged, defeated. "I can't fight with the majority. Juliet talk to Tina after practice about the logistics."

Juliet grinned and nodded as she glanced at Santana who winked at her (oh was she going to get quite the thank you after school). This was turning out to be her best year yet.

* * *

Santana flipped her textbook upside-down see if that would help make any more sense of it all, she looked over at Juliet who seems to be dwarfed on her bed covered in papers.

"I don't see the need for this Chemistry homework anyways. We all know I'm going to become some super hot famous model, everyone will worship me, and the scientific method will be the farthest thing from my mind." Santana shut the textbook and leaned back to put her feet up on Juliet's desk. The two of them were trying to get all of their assignments done before the weekend, so at sectionals they wouldn't have to worry.

"Babe come on, we have to finish this stuff. Mr. Herman will kill you if you don't turn in another worksheet, and you're not going to want to do it on Sunday night." Juliet got off her bed and massaged Santana's shoulders as she sat in the desk chair.

She leaned down and whispered into her ear from behind. "I could take a break and teach you about a different kind of chemistry through. I never did truly thank you for how you spoke up in glee for me."

Santana snorted but couldn't stop a grin from breaking through. She leaned her head back so she looked at Juliet upside-down. "You're the cheesiest. But that's kinda why I like you." She gripped the back of Juliet's neck and pulled her in for their version of the upside-down Spiderman kiss.

Juliet giggled and when they broke Santana turned around and looked up with a coy smile. Juliet tugged at the collar of her cheerios jacket, which caused Santana to rise up from the chair and take her girlfriends hand. She led them towards the bed, and pulled Juliet in close

.  
"Speaking of glee, you're going to look so hot in that outfit on stage." She leaned back against the edge of the mattress, teased her lips close to Juliet's and whispered. "And don't think you can best me on chemistry, we all know I'm the expert of this kind." She gave her a small wink before she moved her lips down her neck. Juliet groaned.

A quick faint knock on the bedroom door jolted them apart milliseconds before Juliet's mom, Josslyn, entered. Juliet quickly wiped her neck and ran her fingers through her hair before her Mom noticed anything.

"Hey Juliet." She looked over at Santana for half a second before she focused back on her daughter. "It's getting late, I think Santana should head home now."

"Mom, it's like 5pm. We have a bunch of homework left." Juliet grumbled.

"You'll see each other tomorrow at the competition. Dinner will be ready soon. Have a good night Santana." Josslyn stood in the doorway and waited for one of them to start moving.

"Um, yeah Mrs. Sanders you're right it's kind of late. Let me just grab my bag and I'll see you tomorrow J." Santana quickly shoved her textbook into her backpack and jolted down the stairs.

"Mom what was that? You used to invite Santana to stay for dinner." Juliet crossed her arms and sat on her bed.

Josslyn came fully into her room and shut the door. "I think you and that girl have been spending too much time together lately. All I ever hear is "Santana this, and Santana that." What happened to your friend Aubrey from tennis? She was so well rounded. I swear Santana lives in that cheerleading uniform." She paused. "Are there any boys you've been interested in?"

Juliet tried her hardest to suppress an eyeroll. Her mother was relentless. "Mom, she's my friend. You already told me we couldn't hang out without a parent in the house but even when we do you kick her out!"

Josslyn put her hand on her daughters knee. "Well, I also wanted to talk to you about something."

Juliet froze, her mind started running a million miles a minute. There's no way she figured anything out right? She thought she had been pretty good at deflection.

"I've been trying to change my work shift this weekend but so far I haven't been able to get out of working on Saturday night. I was offered to switch for Sunday morning but, you know that's a time for church so I couldn't do that." She pursed her lips together as if she had been agonizing over this for the past week.

Juliet breathed a sigh of relief, she hadn't thought her Mom would be interested in going anyways. This was perfect, she didn't have to come up with an explanation as to why she wasn't wearing what the rest of the girls were.

"That's okay, I understand. What about dad?"

"Your father had already pledged his time with Pastor Jeff to do outreach on Saturday night." Josslyn looked down. "I am so sorry hun. I want to go cheer you on, and see you in those lovely little outfits the show choir's always wear. I will make sure I can come to your next one." Josslyn squeezed Juliet's knee as she stood up and walked over to the closet.

"Yeah, maybe the next one." Juliet shrugged.

Josslyn opened the closet door. "I was thinking maybe you could show me the dress you're wearing for the competition? Try it on for me?"

Juliet jumped up and went to stand in front of the door, not wanting her Mom to see the real outfit that was hanging up. "Um, you know Mom, Mr. Schue brings them to the venue so none of us accidently spill on them or something on our way there." Juliet nodded and thought about how that was a pretty solid cover up.

Josslyn sighed and looked upset. Juliet felt a twinge of sadness, she didn't realize her Mother would care so much about missing her performance.  
"Well, I have a picture of the dress on my phone?" She offered, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She scrolled through her album shielding her Mom's eyes from some of the racier pics Santana had texted. She selected the photo, regretting in that moment that of course the only one she had was Santana posing in the dress from when they all tried on the outfits.

"Oh, it looks very cute. Do you have any of you in the dress?" Josslyn tried to scroll through the photos but Juliet yanked her phone away.

"Sorry Mom, that was the only one I got. But all the outfits look really great." She forced a smile on her face. "I kind of need to finish up this homework before the weekend starts, can you just holler up the stairs when dinner is ready?"

Josslyn nodded, but before she turned around to leave she put a hand on Juliet's shoulder. "You'll do great tomorrow, make me proud." With that, she walked out the room and shut the door behind her.

Juliet let out a sigh of relief that she hadn't realized she was holding in.

* * *

The morning of sectionals had arrived and Juliet was a bundle of nerves. She had never performed in front of so many people before, nobody ever really came to her tennis matches so this was a whole new territory. Her phone chimed from her desk.

 _SL: Romeo where for art thou? I wanna see you lookin sexxaayyyyy_

Juliet rolled her eyes but grinned, she typed back a response.

 _JS: OMW, I'm gonna change at Britt's so my mom doesn't see. be there asap :P_

Juliet grabbed her outfit from the closet and ran downstairs to find the bag she packed the rest of her stuff in. Her house was eerily quiet, she thought her Mom would be around somewhere but noticed her keys were gone from the hook. She must be working a long shift. She glanced at the clock in the kitchen and realized she told Santana she would be there 15 minutes ago. Whoops! She raced out the door.

"Hello!" Brittany threw open the front door of her house with such gusto she could've ripped it off the frame.

"Hey Britt." Juliet stepped inside and looked around. She had never actually been to Brittany's house before, it was really nice. A tiny dachshund puppy yipped at her as she took her shoes off.

"Aww!" Juliet bent down to pet the little guy. "Brittany your house is amazing, it's so big and grand!"

Brittany smiled and shrugged. "Thanks, that's what I like to remind my Mom when she complains about the strays I bring home. I mean, just look at these guys, how could you not!" She bent down and scratched the scraggly head of a different, bigger dog who was laying in a very small cat bed. She glanced behind her where a rather large cat strutted down the hallway, then leaned in towards Juliet and whispered, "Really its Lord Tubbington that's the softie but if the strays hear that, it will ruin his street cred."

Just then Quinn came down the stairs and froze in her tracks for a moment. "Oh, hi Juliet." She turned to Brittany. "I thought only the unholy trinity got ready for competitions together. Since when did that change?"

"Oh get laid already Quinn, stop being such a stick in the mud." Santana busted around the corner and hopped down the stairs behind her. She gave a cheeky little wave to Juliet and grinned.

"We couldn't throw poor Juliet over to Rachel's house to get ready could we? That's just downright mean." She hip checked Quinn as she passed her on the stairs and jumped over the last step with a little spin.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Jeez, who put uppers in your coffee this morning." She looked back over at Juliet. "Alright well, hurry up and change we are supposed to be leaving soon to catch the bus at school."

Brittany pointed her in the direction of the bathroom and Juliet quickly slid into her button up and black trousers. She patted down a wrinkle in the front and stared at herself in the mirror with a smile.

"Come on J, show us what you look like!" Santana hollered through the door.

Juliet took one last deep breath and came out of the door with a little twirl.

"Ta-da! Does it look okay?" She turned around in a circle so they could all see the full effect.

Brittany and Santana beamed. "So cute!" Brittany clapped excitedly.

"Very suave." Santana winked at her.

Quinn stood there with her arms crossed. "I mean, you do look good. But you're just going to blend in with all the boys so what's the difference."  
Brittany nudged Quinn so she would stop talking. "You're our super special unicorn Juliet!"

Juliet blushed. "Okay guys, lets go kick some ass!"

The girls all grabbed their things and bounced out the door to Brittany's car. Juliet felt her phone vibrate while Santana visibly tried to keep a straight face.

 _SL: delicious, I cant wait till this is over and I can rip all those buttons right off that shirt_

Juliet's face turned beet red and she tried to hide a smile. Quinn glanced over with an eyebrow raised.

"Got a secret boy toy texting you there J?" Quinn leaned over to try and peak at Juliet's phone.

Juliet shoved it back into her pocket. "No, that was just uh, Kurt wishing us good luck! It's hot in this car, no? Britt can we roll a window down?"

"Oh my god, this song is my jam!" Santana turned up the radio to change the subject as Brittany rolled down the windows. The four girls danced and sang along all the way to school; they were so ready to win.

* * *

Juliet peeked through the curtain from backstage where the New Directions waited in the wings, there was a lot of people out there. She took a deep breath but couldn't get the butterflies in her stomach to go away. She felt someone come up behind her and shut the curtain closed.

"Don't psych yourself out. You're going to be amazing." Santana pulled Juliet away from the edge.

Juliet's expression was one of uncertainty. "I've never seen so many people in my life. What if I fall? Should I really have worn this outfit, maybe I should go change into the dress to blend in."

"Stop it. You look badass. We're going to win this thing, I mean I am singing the closing number so obviously we are going to win." She grinned.  
Juliet sighed. "You're right. Look at me freaking out when you're the one who actually has the solo! It's gonna be awesome, and then maybe everyone at school will start to think glee club is cool?"

They paused for a minute until they broke out in laughter. "That'll never happen." They said in unison.

Just then the lights dimmed and they heard the announcer start to introduce their performance. Everyone got into their places and waited for the music to start. Juliet felt a swell of excitement walking onto the stage and the nerves disappeared just as the first notes began to play.

 _Why don't you come on over_  
 _Vallleeerrriiiiieee_

With the last bar of their closing number the crowd erupts in applause and the New Directions take their bows. The performance went off without a hitch. She was doing something she loved with people she really (mostly) liked. She saw Kurt in the audience, he waved at her and did a thumbs up. She felt like she was on cloud nine.

Everyone skipped and celebrated down the hallway towards the dressing room after they got offstage. Juliet grabbed Santana's hand and pulled her into a huge hug as their friends passed by. "Your song was fantastic!" Juliet exclaimed, letting her excitement get the better of her regarding public displays.

Santana gently pushed her away as she glanced around. "We all crushed it. Let's celebrate later in private though okay?" She gave her a hopeful smile but noticed a twinge of sadness register across Juliet's face.

Juliet was not mad that Santana rejected even the simplest hug, even though she just saw Brittany give her one with no issue. She knew she was constantly afraid that their secret would get out and Juliet tried to respect that. But it didn't mean that it didn't hurt every now and then, especially when she looked over and saw Mike and Tina basically making out in the hallway in celebration.

But that was something she could dwell on later, they just did amazing and she could not wait to hear the results! Quinn came running by and grabbed Santana in the rush back to the dressing room. Juliet hurried down the hallway trying to catch up to everyone when all of a sudden she came to a screeching halt.

Brittany came up beside her and stopped as she noticed Juliet's face went pale. "Are you okay? You look like a dementor just sucked your soul." She leaned in closer and whispered. "That happened to me once."

Juliet just kept staring straight ahead. "Uh Britt, yeah I'm okay. I'll catch up with you guys in a minute." Brittany shrugged and continued to skip down the hall.

Juliet walked slowly towards what captivated her attention. "Mom?" She whispered in disbelief.

Josslyn marched straight towards Juliet and grabbed her arm. "What is this?" She glanced down at the outfit Juliet was wearing, her expression bore absolute horror. "I woke up extra early to switch shifts at the last minute so I could be here and you... you embarrass me like this?"

"I...uh...it's fine I wanted to wear it, it's what I feel most comfortable in!" She struggled to get out of Josslyn's grasp.

"We're leaving, we will discuss this at home!" Josslyn started to drag her down the hall towards the exit of the building.

Juliet began to argue. "But they haven't even announced the results yet!" Only to have her mom's vice grip pull even harder.

* * *

Juliet wheeled her bike in between two bushes surrounding the fence. She double checked the bike was hidden from view before chucking her duffel bag and backpack over the 8 foot chain-link surrounding the school. She felt a drop of water splash on her hand from above.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She could not take being rained on. Not tonight. She took a deep breath and began to climb, stopping at the top taking in how peaceful the night looked. Juliet chuckled to herself a bit.

"The calm before the storm, what a metaphor for my day." She wasn't talking to anyone, she was definitely alone but somehow it felt better to say it aloud. With one final hop down she started to re-gather her bags, she would be pretty impressed with herself with that jump had the circumstances been different.

Juliet reached the nearest building and started to rummage through her backpack. "Where did it go? I know it's in here!" She mumbled as she flung her belongings around.

The rain started to pick up as soon as Juliet grabbed the key she was searching for and unlocked the door to the WMHS sports equipment storage shed. She silently thanked herself for making tennis captain this year so she had access to it. It housed equipment for all the sports teams, so it was a pretty decent size. It also happened to smell like feet; but beggars can't be choosers and tonight she's definitely a beggar.

She ducked inside and flung her bags into a corner. A soccer ball had come loose from a storage basket and Juliet instinctively kicked it as hard as she could against the wall. It came barreling back and smacked her shin.

"Fuck!" She winced as she bent down to recover from the blow.

She scooted into a corner and pulled her knees to her chest as she sighed. How did one of the best days of her life then turn into one of the worst? She leaned her head back against the wall as she relived the incident.

 _"I just don't understand how you could feel more comfortable in men's clothing than in that cute little dress you showed me. I told all my friends at church and work about this performance and promised them videos and now...well I can't show them that, they'll think certain things." Josslyn paced around the kitchen._

 _"Mom, let's get real here. This isn't about the outfit." Juliet sighed. She was so tired of having the same fight._

 _"Who told you to wear that, was it Santana? That girl is a bad influence I can tell, you will not be spending time with her again." Josslyn nodded quite smug with herself, as if she had just solved the mystery._

 _"This isn't about Santana, just as it was never about Lena last summer. It's about ME. It's always been about the fact that you are scared of who I am!" Juliet raised her voice and got up from the kitchen chair she was sitting in. She needed space between them, if only a few extra feet._

 _"No." Josslyn stopped dead in her tracks. "Don't bring up that neighborhood girl, we have moved past that problem."_

 _Juliet, on the verge of tears, fought back. "It's not a problem! It's my life! I'm ... I'm..." She took a deep breath, it was now or never, there would never be a good time for this to happen._

 _"I'm gay."_

 _The kitchen fell silent._

 _"I'm gay mom." Juliet repeated herself, she knew her mom had heard her the first time but she needed to say it again, needed to feel how it sounds to finally stand up and say it. "I like girls. I was born this way, I can't change it. It's who I am."_

 _Josslyn stood still, her eyes squeezed shut as she took a deep breath._

 _"Mom, say something please" She said a little softer, her heart beating out of her chest. This was not how she had thought tonight would go. "It's okay. God made me this way and there's nothing wro-"_

 _"NO!" Josslyn slammed her fist down on the table. She paused to regain control. "Do not bring God's name into this."_

 _With a darkness to her tone she whispered, "Get out."_

 _"What?" Juliet asked faintly._

 _"Get out of my house and do not come back."_

Back in the shed, Juliet shut her eyes and tried to fight back tears that threatened to fall at the memories. Her mom really thought it was that disgusting, that she was so deplorable, that she just kicked her out. If she can't love her now, did she ever?

Juliet grabbed her duffel bag and pulled out a blanket to wrap herself in. As she laid there in the pitch black room she was pulled from her thoughts when her phone lit up the entire shed. She realized she hadn't even looked at her phone since all this began. Wiping away a few stray tears, she pulled it into view and saw 5 missed texts, 2 missed calls, and a voicemail, most from Santana. One, surprisingly, was from Brittany.

 _SL: Hey where are you we have to go back on stage for the results_

 _SL: J! We tied with Dalton, we get to go to regionals! RU in the bathroom?_

 _SL: Babe, I want to celebrate! Answer your phone! I've got lots of plans for us tonight ;)_

 _SL: No one knows where you went, what the hell is going on? You left your bag here, I'm bringing it back to Brittany's for you._

 _BSP: Hey J, Santana is looking for you. I told her the dementors probably took you to Azkaban._

Juliet sighed. She checked the voicemail, she could barely hear Santana over everyone in the background, but she definitely sounded annoyed. Thinking about it Juliet would be too if her girlfriend just upped and disappeared in the middle of everything.

As she goes to put her phone away one more text comes through.

SL: Hey Jules, I'm really worried now. It's been hours and u just disappeared. Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry about the hug thing... please just call me back.

Juliet couldn't stop the tears from falling after reading the last text. There was no way to tell Santana that her mom kicked her out; this was Santana's worse nightmare. She would probably break up with her and retreat further back into the closet. Juliet couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't.

For fear that Santana would possibly show up at her house or call a search party, Juliet sent back a quick text.

 _JS: Hey. Sorry I left early. We'll talk Monday._

Juliet turned her phone off completely after the message successfully sent, mostly to help preserve her battery. She curled up against the edge of the shed and quietly cried herself to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9 - Valentines

***NOTES****

 **Hey all! Thanks for still reading if you are. My new co-writer ( kimbyinprogress on twitter) and I are really excited about this chapter. It's long but we really enjoy it.**

 **Thanks for sticking around for a story about an original character, I know it can be hard to care about them at first but hopefully you are still enjoying it!**

 **As always we appreciate comments and feedback.**

 **Chapter 9**

Juliet carefully pulled on the double doors of the back entrance to the school. She peeked her head through making sure the place was empty. Thank God the janitorial staff unlocked the school around sunrise, she was getting real tired of being cold and was more than ready to take a much needed hot shower in the girls locker room.

She tiptoed her way down the main hallway, hauling her duffle bag and backpack behind her. The need to hide the evidence she had been sleeping there just seemed to make her situation even more depressing. She looked over at the guidance counselor's office and was startled to see Ms. Pillsbury staring back at her with that cheeky grin she was always known for. Juliet gave an awkward smile in return and then scurried down the hall, slipping into the locker room as fast as she could.

She plugged her phone in and stared at herself in the mirror. "Damn if two days makes me look like this, I don't know how I'm gonna keep doing this." Leaving her phone to charge up she hopped in the shower. For a brief few moments, while the warm water splashed over her, she let herself breathe and relax. Maybe today won't be so bad, if she could make it through the weekend practically staring at a wall, school might be the distraction she needs to figure out her next step. Just as her mind starts to wander she heard the familiar chimes of her phone booting up followed by way too many alerts to even count. Text messages, voicemails, heck she's pretty sure she even heard a few tweet alerts coming through. Santana is persistent she'll give her that.

She begrudgingly hopped out of the warmth, quickly got dressed and shoved as much of her stuff as she could into her gym locker. Students started trickling into the hallway so she grabbed her phone and charger. She was right in her assumption, the majority of the messages were from Santana. She had a glimmer of hope that one might be from her Mom, but no such luck. She took one last look in the mirror, her hair clearly still wet, but a nice upside to short hair is that it'll dry fast. With a feeble attempt to plaster a smile on her face, she headed to her locker in the hall.

Just as the warning bell for first period rang, Santana came up in a huff, pushing Juliet's locker door the rest of the way open so they were standing face to face.

"Oh, so you are alive?" Her tone was snarky. Juliet barely registered her presence but she knew she wasn't happy. The past 36 hours had been terrible, the last thing she wanted to do is to get into an argument in the hallway so she continued to grab her history book and shove it into her bag without saying anything at all.

Santana seemed to finally register how tired her girlfriend looked and softened her tone.

"Hey" she put her hand on Juliet's arm rubbing her thumb in small smoothing circles along the inside of her forearm, but not without a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching. "What happened to you at sectionals? I was really worried, and then you didn't answer any of my calls or messages all weekend. Or anyone's for that matter! What am I supposed to think?"

Juliet slowly shook her head, trying to avoid eye contact. She knew that if she gave into to her emotions right now and really process what was happening that she wouldn't be able to stop the tears she was holding in. She didn't want Santana to see her like that, and more importantly, she didn't want Santana to find out the truth because she wasn't sure if she would be able to handle it.

With another look at the hallway lurkers Santana dropped her hand down and started fiddling with her rings. "Is this about when I pushed you away after the hug? I'm sorry about that, I really am, but you know how it has to be in public. I'm trying but I'm just not there yet." Santana continued her rambling. With Juliet's silence beginning to scare her, all Santana could think to do was kept talking until she figured out the problem. She had gone back and forth all weekend thinking Juliet was pissed at her and then getting pissed at Juliet for going MIA.

"Yeah." The one word was all Juliet could manage to get out. She could already feel the tears threatening to fall. The simplest of touches from Santana, while so comforting had almost the opposite effect. She truly wanted nothing more than for Santana to hold her, but she knew that would never happen at school, and she just needed to get through the day without another breakdown.

Santana's expression switched to desperation, Juliet's behavior was getting harder than Shakespeare to understand, but she needed answers. "J please don't cut me out. If you're angry with me just tell me so we can fix it. I can't take you being so cold to me. I know, it wasn't long ago I did this to you, and you're right this feels awful."

The way Santana sounded so small made Juliet's heart break. Juliet picked her head up to look Santana in the eyes and with the slightest of hand movements she hooked her index finger to Santana's, taking a breath to steady her emotions before trying to reassure her. "No, no. Santana it's not about you. I mean yeah, your reaction to that hug kind of sucked but, I just... had some family stuff to take care of. I'm sorry I worried you."

"Oh." Santana looked relieved but also confused. "Is there anyone I need to go all Lima Heights on?" Juliet let out a small chuckle releasing Santana's hand and turned back to finish grabbing her books.

"You can tell me about family stuff J, I want to be there for you." Santana lowered her voice and looked around nervously before adding "I mean that's what girlfriends are for right?"

Juliet closed her locker and swung her backpack over her shoulder. She let out a deep sigh. "It's fine, there's nothing to do." Just then the bell to signal the start of first period rang. "I've got to go, I'll see you in glee club." She immediately turned around and bolted down the hallway before Santana could even respond.

For a moment, Santana just stood there in front of the lockers, she was more confused and frustrated after speaking to Juliet then she had been all weekend. Juliet said she wasn't mad at her but the way she was acting was just off. It was like riding a rollercoaster with all these twist and turns but you are in pitch black and have no idea where you are heading. Pulling herself out of her thoughts she noticed the time and quickly starting making her way to class, there was no way she was gonna be stuck in the front row for the next hour. It is so much harder to nap when you are front and center.

* * *

Later in the day, Ms. Pillsbury was cloroxing her desk when she catches Juliet speeding by her office once again. She knew she had to call the girl inside, no one comes to school that early unless they were trying to escape something. She had just the solution.

"Oh, Juliet! Can you come in here for a moment?" She ran to the door to try to catch her.

Juliet was caught off guard. What in the world could Ms. Pillsbury want from her? Considering how starving she was, she figured she should just get it over with so she could finally get a decent meal. She walked over and leaned in the door frame.

"Uh, hi?" Juliet questioned, her grip becoming tighter on the strap of her backpack.

"Please come in! I've been told I need some more face to face time with the students instead of just slipping them pamphlets as they walk by."

Juliet carefully walked in, unsure of which chair to even sit in. She decided to just stay standing.

Ms. Pillsbury slides a pamphlet across the desk slowly, smiling a little creepily the entire time. "I thought this might help you out." She whispered as the bell for next period rang. Her eyes lit up at the sound. "Well look at that! Face to face isn't so hard. Now, you're going to be late for lunch if you don't hurry."

Juliet stared at her confused. She turned around to head out the door when she glanced down at the paper Ms. Pillsbury handed her, it read:

 _So things aren't going great at home?_

Juliet froze. Her first thought was that the title was not one of Ms. Pillsbury's best work, but her second thought was, how did she know? She felt Ms. Pillsbury come up behind her and put her hand on the door.

"My door is always open if you need anything." Juliet looked up at her in disbelief before realizing half the student body was roaming around in the hallways now. She shoved the pamphlet in her pocket and ran out. Ms. Pillsbury shut the door behind her and continued to cloroxed the desk.

"I thought that went well." She hummed to herself.

* * *

Santana sat in the back row of the choir room with two empty seats on either side of her. She watched the door like a hawk for when Juliet would come in, hoping she would be in a better mood now that the whole day had gone by. She chastised herself for being this needy, she had never had an actual relationship with someone who she cared about so she didn't really know how far she should push Juliet.

Just as the bell rang, Juliet walked into the choir room, keeping her head down and eye contact away from Santana. She noticed her sitting in the back by herself and felt a twinge of guilt. She knew she couldn't avoid her forever but she had to figure out what she was going to do about the mess of her life first before figuring out what and how much to tell Santana. She slid into the front row next to Rachel, who was doodling "Mrs. Berry-Hudson" all over her notebook. Gross.

"Okay everybody!" Mr. Schue drew a heart on the whiteboard and stood back very proud of himself. "Valentine's Day is this Thursday, so the theme of this week is LOVE!" He beamed and most of the club seemed happy with this. Santana scoffed loudly and Juliet could hear it. With everything going on she had totally forgotten about the so called "holiday". Not even a week ago she had been pretty over the moon about the prospect of being able to spend a nice evening with Santana. Juliet isn't one for all of that commercialized mushy, romantic cheesiness but she is human after all. If only things weren't so different now. She couldn't even begin to think about Valentine's day.

"Your assignment this week is to sing a love song to someone else. It can be a solo or you can do a duet but get creative." As soon as he spoke the room became a buzz. Juliet looked around and noticed Artie chatting excitedly with Brittany, as well as Tina and Mike already planning on what they were going to do.

Santana stared wistfully at the back of Juliet's head, hoping she would turn around and look at her or something - anything! But Juliet just pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head and looked towards the floor. Santana felt eyes on her so she snapped her head to the right and saw Quinn staring.

"Take a picture, it lasts longer. Sheesh what's your deal Q?" Santana leaned back against the chair and crossed her arms.

"Nothing. Just wondering what your plans were for this assignment?" Quinn raised her eyebrow as if she knew a secret.

Santana knew when she was being mocked, she was the queen of mocking people. "Fuck off Fabray." Quinn was trying to mock her for being (for all she knew) single as hell, and she had no time for that today. This assignment did suck though, not only was there was no way she could sing anything to Juliet in front of the glee club (or vice versa), she would have to sit through everyone else doing it to their significant others. She was gonna need to remember to bring a barf bag for the rest of the week.

The following few days were not the best for either Santana or Juliet. Juliet felt miserable camping out in the sports shed every night, but she couldn't think of another option, especially one close enough to get to on bike in winter. She contemplated telling Aubrey or a couple of other girls from the tennis team, but she wasn't ready to have the same "coming out" conversation over and over. She even caught herself hovering over Lena's name in her contacts, why she even still had her number she didn't know. But eventually she convinced herself that she was one route that definitely would not help her out. It was emotionally exhausting, and by Wednesday she was all out of tears.

Juliet tried to dodge Santana as much as she could but the longer she didn't talk to her the more mad Santana got. However the more she did talk to her the more she felt like she'd fall apart at any moment. It was a balancing act, one that she was failing at.

On top of it all, glee club members singing love songs to their valentines was vomit worthy. Juliet glanced over at Santana while Artie and Mike were singing and dancing to "Pretty Young Thing" for Brittany and Tina. Santana caught her eyeline and gave her a soft smile. Juliet smiled back, it felt good to smile, she had rarely done it all week but when she did, it was usually with Santana. There was no denying how much they cared for each other, but it also reaffirmed Juliet's need to shield Santana from all of this. At least until she had a plan. Thinking about it, she knew exactly what song she would sing Santana if she could. It seemed lame but she had been working on it for a while. It was "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid, but a different musical arrangement of it. It didn't matter though, no way would that ever happen in front of the glee club.

When practice was over, Juliet slung her backpack over her shoulder and slowly walked out of the choir room, not quite ready to face the cold again. Suddenly she heard a voice behind her.

"You know, it's tacky to wear the same jeans three days in a row. You've got a horrible pen stain in the back pocket, you probably ought to do some laundry." Quinn sneered at her.

Juliet sighed, she wasn't in the mood for Quinn's drama. She didn't understand why the girl was so hostile towards her, they had barely ever even spoken to one another. Although to be fair she kind of was just hostile in general, "Quinn the Queen B", and no the B did not stand for the insect. Juliet chuckled to herself at the thought before turning to face Quinn.

"Didn't know you stared at my ass so much." She smirked, that'll shut her up. Quinn looked like she was a deer caught in headlights. Not really caring to hear her rebuttal, Juliet made her way out into the hallway to go grab her duffle bag from the locker room.

"J! Hold up!" Santana came running up behind her. Juliet contemplated walking faster but honestly missed Santana's company and was relieved she was even still talking to her.

"Hey" Juliet said softly as Santana walked in step beside her.

"Hey so, Valentine's Day is tomorrow." Santana said matter of factly, as if Juliet was supposed to have a response.

"Uh, yup it is." Juliet stopped at her locker to get rid of some of her textbooks for the night.

Santana sighed, stepping in front of Juliet she forced the locker closed and tried to get some eye contact for once. "Jules come on. We should do something. We can't really participate in this dumb assignment so why don't we do a little private show. Your parents are usually gone on Thursday nights anyways right? What if I come over and hang out for a little bit?"

Juliet went rigid at the mention of her parents. Of course Santana knew the nights her parents were around less, they built their whole routine on knowing when exactly to sneak in and out of her house to avoid them.

"My house isn't an option." Was all Juliet could think of to say. She grabbed her backpack and started down the hallway.

"Juliet..." Santana ran after her tugging on her arm to get her to stop but Juliet just shrugged her off. "S, I've gotta go. I'll call you later." With that, Juliet rounded the corner, leaving Santana alone in the middle of the hallway with that same befuddled look she's had on her face since Sectionals.

"Fuck!" Santana threw her bag down towards the lockers. Realizing she was attracting some unwanted attention she begrudgingly went to pick her stuff up, muttering under breath. "You've said 'I'll call you later' all week! When the hell is later!"

* * *

Santana tossed her towel down on the bench in the middle of the locker room. She had been messing up all cheerios practice, she just couldn't stop thinking about Juliet. There had to be something they could do tonight, they needed to be alone together so Santana could finally figure out what was going on. Abruptly a voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"...and then for the last thing of the night, Artie is taking me to breadstix. I'm finally going to be able to put into good use all the practice I've had rolling a meatball across the table with my nose!" Brittany gushed. Santana forgot she had even asked Brittany what her and Artie had planned for Valentine's Day.

Just then a booming voice came near them. "Whose been taking all my protein powder from the equipment shed!" Coach Sue snarled as she ripped through the locker room with rage, pom poms were flying. Quinn ran after Sue, hoping she could settle her down before another Cheerio ended up sidelined with whiplash.

Brittany and Santana, now alone in the locker room, barely even registered the typical Thursday commotion. Brittany fiddled with her combo lock, it always took her a few tries to get it open. "What are your plans with Juliet tonight? I have crayons in my locker if you need to make a card." After one more attempt the lock clicked and Brittany did a little happy dance as she pulled her bag out.

Santana was about to vent her frustrations when the question actually registered in full and she froze. "...you know?" She turned to look at her best friend. She had never explicitly talked to Brittany about her and Juliet but she supposed they never really kept it much of a secret around her either.

"Of course I know Santana, you're my person." Brittany smiled at her as she put her Cheerios jacket on, as if that was the most casual thing in the world to say.

Santana found herself staring for a beat too long. She had been so wrapped up in Juliet the past few months that she forgot how sweet and caring Brittany was; how innocent she could be. She always seemed to live in this simple world where everything was either good or bad, and if it was bad she didn't bother with it. It's hard not to feel safe and calm by simply being around her. Brittany caught Santana lost in thought and poked her in the side playfully.

"So do you guys want to come double da-" Before she could think about what she was doing, Santana interrupted Brittany's question and pulled her in for a kiss. When her brain caught up a few seconds later she let go and gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Britt. I'm a hot mess, I shouldn't have done that." Santana had never been one to care about cheating but ever since her and Juliet became official, she vowed never to do that to her.

Brittany just looked at her confused. "Yeah, I thought you said we couldn't do sweet lady kisses anymore."

Santana sat down on the bench with her head in her hands. "UGH! I'm just so confused" She looked up at Brittany with tears in her eyes. "Juliet just disappeared after sectionals and she's been so cold to me. Ignoring me and not wanting to hang out. I don't know what I did to her. She keeps saying everything is fine but if everything was fine why is she avoiding me!"

Brittany sat down next to Santana and put her hand on her back rubbing small circles, it always made her feel better.

Santana sighed. "I want to do something tonight with her for Valentine's but we don't have a place to go that's not public. Plus, I don't think she would agree even if I did have somewhere for us to go, she doesn't seem to want to be around me anymore." She put her head back in her hands. She was not used to being the one that had to chase someone.

The girls sat in silence for a moment until Brittany spoke up. "I think I have an idea. What's that TV show you always used to talk about, the one you were only allowed to watch with her?"

"Parks and Rec?" Santana raised an eyebrow, unsure to what prompted her to bring this up.

"Yeah, the lady with the waffles. Okay. I have a plan."

* * *

Later that night Juliet parked her bike by the tree in Brittany's front yard. A little confused on why everyone isn't out with their own dates on Valentine's, but not about to question getting offered a warm night inside and possibly some snacks. She walked up to the front door and knocked.

Almost immediately it sprang open and her girlfriend was standing there on the other side with a huge smile on her face. "Juliet! You came!"

Juliet took in the sight. Santana was so happy to see her. She felt bad for how shitty she had been towards her this past week, even if it was for her own sanity. She smiled as she walked through the entryway.

"Yeah, Brittany invited me to a 'Galentines' event. I didn't even know she watched Parks and Rec." Juliet glanced around nervously, seeing no sign of anyone else. "She said it was a mandatory glee thing and if I didn't come I'd flunk out...she does know we aren't graded in that club right?"

Just as she said that, Brittany came hopping down the stairs with her coat on and bag in hand. "Juliet! Yay you made it!" Brittany grabbed her shoes and quickly put them on. "Okay, gotta go get Artie! Don't go upstairs, Lord Tubbington has his own plans tonight!"

With that, Brittany ran out the door shutting it loudly behind her. Santana and Juliet stood there in an awkward silence for a moment as Juliet tried to process what was going on.

Slowly it registered on her face. "No one else is here are they?" Juliet asked.

Santana grabbed Juliet's hand and led her down the hallway and into the furnished basement as she explained. "Look, before you leave, please just hear me out. I really want to be with you tonight. I don't know what's going on or if I did anything to make you upset, but there is something wrong and I just want you to know that I care."

Juliet slowed down as she landed on the last couple of steps and looked all around. All the furniture was moved to the sides of the room and in the middle there were blankets and pillows arranged on the floor. A little plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne sat on a small table just outside of the blanket area. A couple balloons in the corner that had hearts on them and said "Happy Valentines Day" and on the TV was a channel that just played a fake crackling fire on a loop.

Santana tried to gauge Juliet's reaction but she couldn't get a read on her, she felt herself trembling. She rarely got nervous but she was starting to let her guard down when it came to Juliet. Part of the difference was control, she always had all of it, and right now, she had none. If Juliet decides to leave she doesn't know how she'd stop her.

"So, which would you prefer, the yule log channel or the rustic fireplace channel?" She joked around trying to keep the mood light as she fiddled with the remote.

"It's our first Valentines together so I wanted it to be special, just like you." Santana smiled at her own cheese but she knew Juliet loved that stuff. "Do you want some champagne? I took it from my Mom's secret stash, it's the good stuff." She didn't wait for an answer, but instead popped the bottle and poured some into a little glass for Juliet.

Juliet hesitated before accepting the drink, there were a few options running through her mind on what to do next but the gesture was just too grand to turn down.

"There is a hidden romantic sap in you isn't there Miss Lopez." She couldn't believe Santana went to all this trouble, especially with the way Juliet had been treating her the past few days. She downed the glass of champagne and held it out for a refill before Santana even poured her own.

Santana breathed a sigh of relief and then raised an eyebrow playfully. "I've been known to go soft every once in a while. But don't ruin my street cred." She poured Juliet another glass and then set the bottle down.

"The guy at the store asked me if I was buying those balloons for my boyfriend, told me I was a modern women for being the one to shower him with gifts." She rolled her eyes. "As if any boy would be as deserving as you." Taking Juliet's free hand back into her own, they both just stared into each others eyes.

"Juliet, I've missed you." Santana felt like their roles had reversed. The more barriers Santana let down the more Juliet seemed to be putting up. "We have all night, Brittany won't be home until about eleven, and her parents even later. We can just watch TV and cuddle." She rolled her eyes and winked at her. "I know you are a sucker for cuddling. Or we can talk...whatever you want. I'm here for you."

Juliet felt a swell of emotions hit as her eyes started watering. No one had ever made her feel this safe, this wanted. She had been living in this feeling of abandonment for the past week, and she was just realizing how truly lonely that had been. All of the gestures were almost too much for her to handle. Juliet downed her second glass of champagne and tossed the plastic glass onto the floor. She couldn't let herself break down crying, not yet, she wasn't ready to relive everything that happened. So she took option two.

She grabbed Santana by her belt loops and pulled her in close, kissing her roughly. Santana responded eagerly, grabbing Juliet's waist to steady herself. Their kiss deepened, it felt desperate and needy. Santana whined as Juliet unclasped her bra with one hand and reached down to tear her shirt off over her head. Santana guided Juliet over to where the blankets and pillows were sprawled out, unbuttoning her shirt as quickly as she could. Juliet tried to be the one in control, to show Santana that she was sorry. She got her to lay down while she placed soft kisses all the way down her stomach. But for someone so small she sure was mighty, and before Juliet knew it she was the one with her back pinned against the floor. Santana sat atop her straddling her hips and staring down at her with hungry eyes. Not wanting to waste any second they had alone, Juliet reached up and yanked Santana's lips back down to hers.

"Oh fuck..." Juliet groaned as Santana grabbed a fistful of her hair and moved her lips hastily down her neck. Juliet felt Santana's hips press even harder against her own as she grazed her hands down her girlfriends back trying to keep up with the rhythm they had set. Her hand eventually found the top of Santana's jeans and she tugged down on them to indicate that they were severely in the way. That's all it took for Santana to tear them completely off as she wanted to be as close as possible.

They spent a long time that way, just exploring one another and reconnecting in a way they had only done once before. When they were finally too tired to continue, Santana grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around them, as Juliet nuzzled her head into the crook of her neck.

"I'll take that as a sign that you don't hate me right?" Santana grazed her fingers up and down Juliet's bare side under the blanket. "Although if you did, that was some good hate sex."

Juliet chuckled. "I could never hate you Santana Lopez." She paused before continuing. "Thank you for doing all of this for me, I've been so wrapped up this week in my own thoughts I didn't even get you anything."

Santana laughed. "Uh, yeah, I'd say you just did. Although, I did have something else planned as well." She glided her hand up Juliet's body until reaching her hair, making slow strokes through the short curls. "I was bummed that we couldn't really participate in the glee assignment this week so I thought I'd sing to you what I would've sang in the choir room. I mean, if you want to hear it that is."

Juliet lifted her head to place a kiss on Santana's cheek. She slowly sat up, keeping her bare body wrapped up in the warmth of the blanket. She smiled and said softly, "I'd love to hear it."

Santana untangled herself from the blankets and grabbed Juliet's button up from where it landed on the floor. She buttoned just enough in the middle to barely cover anything and grabbed her phone. A few short beeps and the phone was successful paired with the surround sound set up in the basement. "I forced one of the jazz band guys to record the guitar part for me and threatened to castrate him if he told anyone."

Juliet chuckled. "Always the romantic."

Santana smiled nervously, trying to decide if she should explain her song choice or just go for it. She leaned against the pool table off to the side and fiddled with the 8 ball, her thumb hovering over the play button on her phone. "I, well, I heard this song and I just, I - want you know how I feel about you."

Juliet just sat and watched Santana stumble over her words. She had never really seen Santana be this nervous before, or this open about her feelings. It often was a lot of surface with Santana, even though Juliet knew she was really trying ever since their night out at the bar. It made Juliet feel so privileged but at the same time she was mad at herself that she had been cutting out the one person who kept telling her she wanted in.

Santana took a deep breath and pressed play, keeping her eyes focused on the ground.

 _(Wanted by Hunter Hayes)_

 _You know I'd fall apart without you_

 _I don't know how you do what you do_

 _'Cause everything that don't make sense about me_

 _Makes sense when I'm with you_

Santana braved looking up to see Juliet watching her intently. Their eyes locked and Santana gave her a small smile before continuing the song.

 _'Cause I wanna wrap you up_

 _Wanna kiss your lips_

 _I wanna make you feel wanted_

 _And I wanna call you mine_

 _Wanna hold your hand forever_

 _And never let you forget it_

 _Yeah, I, I wanna make you feel wanted_

Juliet felt her heart beating out of her chest, tears very close to falling. She thought about how Santana couldn't even begin to understand how important it was for her to hear those words right now.

 _You'll always be wanted_

For the last line of the song, Santana had come back down to where Juliet was and sat down in front of her. She grabbed her hand and held it in her lap as she looked Juliet directly in the eye for the final note. She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Juliet's lips, which was all it took for Juliet to burst into tears.

Santana took Juliet's face in her hands, using her thumbs to wipe away the tears that were falling. "My performance was that good huh?" She joked, trying to get her girlfriend crack a smile but when Juliet's few tears turned into deeper sobbing she became worried.

"Hey," Santana softly pulled her in. "Please talk to me."

For the first time all week Juliet finally let herself fall into Santana's embrace, which only made her cry harder. She knew once she let the tears start they would never stop. She had fallen for Santana - hard, and it looked like Santana felt the same way. Everything was going so well for them - except it wasn't.

"Why does everything have to be so hard." Juliet whispered in between her sobs. Santana placed her finger under Juliet's chin, lifting her gaze to reach her own. "Being with me is hard?" Santana asked weakly. She had been hoping this wasn't what Juliet seemed down about all week.

"No, no." Juliet sighed, grabbing Santana's hands in her own. "No, you're incredible, so damn incredible. You make me so happy, and feel so safe. It's just...everything else that sucks." She took a deep, shaky breath and tried to steady her voice. "That performance was...perfect. It's just not fair that you can't sing it in glee club. Why can't the rest of the world just catch up and realize that no one should care who likes who. It doesn't change who we are." Juliet felt so close to telling Santana the truth about everything that happened with her family but she couldn't bring herself to do it. The possibility Santana might turn her back on her out of fear was getting smaller but it was still there.

Santana's breath hitched in her throat, she hadn't realized not being fully out was causing Juliet so much pain. "Does this still have something to do with the hug at Sectionals? Babe, if you want to be out at school - I'll support you." She paused before continuing. "I'm just not there yet myself."

By this point they had let go of each other's hands. Juliet was playing with the tassles from one of the pillows she had pulled onto her lap. "This isn't about the hug. I promise you I'm not mad about that and I understand your fears. I just feel like... lately... maybe I am a bit more ready than I thought."

Glancing a look at Santana, Juliet could see fear overtaking her. "I'm not saying any of this to pressure you. Believe me when I say, you and I coming out are not mutually exclusive." She sighed. "I just wish, that the idea of love didn't cause so much hate in some people."

Santana could see the immense sadness in Juliet's eyes. She could tell she wasn't getting the full story here but feared pushing for any more information. If nothing else, seeing this in Juliet made her downright angry. Angry that she couldn't make this pain go away for her girlfriend. Or for anyone really; herself, Kurt, all of the other kids who just couldn't understand why their love had to be "wrong".

Santana grabbed Juliet, blanket and all, and pulled her onto her lap. "I wish I had the answers Jules, I really do. If I did, I probably wouldn't have to be such a bitch all the time to everyone."

Juliet chuckled at her comment and wiped away a stray tear from her own cheek. She leaned into Santana, resting their foreheads together and planting a tender kiss on her lips. As she pulled away she could feel a truckload of tension release with her breath. "Okay, okay that's enough of me being such a downer. I really did love your song, more than you'll probably ever know."

Santana hesitated for a beat, not sure if she should let this topic go without any real solutions but Juliet seemed more relaxed then she had all week so she took the compliment. "I'm glad you enjoyed it." She tugged lightly at the blankets Juliet had wrapped around herself as a signal she wanted to be let back in. "It's probably for the best I couldn't sing it at practice, everyone would've just been jealous anyways."

Juliet hummed and smiled as they rearranged themselves amongst the pillows and the blankets, letting Santana cuddle up to her this time.

They stayed wrapped up together for the next few hours. Enjoying a true Valentine's evening, alternating between feeding each other chocolate covered strawberries and sneak attack kisses. Their conversations the rest of the night remained surface level and at one point they tried to put on an episode of Parks and Rec but realized pretty quickly they couldn't pay attention with Santana and her ever roaming hands. At 10:30 Santana's phone alarm went off.

"Aw shit." She said as she rolled over to turn it off. "I have to get home soon or my parents will absolutely murder me, curfews should be outlawed." She rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised Josslyn hasn't called you like 8 times already."

It suddenly hit Juliet how happy she had been for the past couple of hours. She hadn't thought once about how this would eventually end and she would have to go back out into the cold for the night. She pouted and tried to push the thought out of her mind. "I wish we could stay like this forever."

Santana giggled and pushed Juliet down so she was straddling her again. She leaned in and pressed a hard kiss against her lips. "Nights like this can't happen again if either of us get grounded." She pulled herself off of Juliet and started to gather her clothing that was strewn around the room.

"You didn't ride your bike here did you?" Santana questioned as she tossed Juliet her button up shirt back.

Juliet slipped on her jeans, noticing the pen stain Quinn had mentioned. "Yeah, it's parked out front." She started to grab blankets from the ground to fold and put on the couch.

"Damn you're going to freeze that cute little ass off. I'll give you a ride." Santana still couldn't understand why Juliet didn't want to take her drivers test yet.

Juliet panicked internally, there was no scenario in which that would work out. "No, it's okay!" She blurted out "I need the fresh air, I'm not that far."

Santana raised her eyebrow. "It's February, and we live in Ohio! You're just lucky that it hasn't snowed in a little while." She went to move the pool table back to its rightful place in the room.

As much as she really wanted to accept the ride, to spend more time with the one person who she felt like actually cared about her, she knew she couldn't.

"San I'm good, really. Plus, I need to cool off a little bit after tonight, you know what kind of effect you have on me." Juliet tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Santana laughed. "Oh yeah, I think I noticed." She grabbed her phone and checked the time again. "Ugh. I mean...okay, if you're really sure? I do have to go."

Juliet kissed her girlfriend one last time. "I'm sure. I'm just going to clean up a little more down here and then head out." Juliet hated ending tonight on a lie, the rest of it had been so perfect. It was exactly what the two of them needed. She started thinking that maybe Santana could handle what had happened, but quickly squashed the idea. As selfish as it may be, she couldn't risk it yet. Santana was her rock at the moment, and she needed her to remain steady.

Santana let out a whine of defeat and wrapped her arms around Juliet's neck, pulling her in close for a final hug. She quickly grabbed her things headed up the stairs when her phone rang. She answered and immediately began yelling in Spanish to, who Juliet assumed, was her Mom.

* * *

With the furniture all back into place it almost looked like the night had never happened. Juliet folded one last blanket and set it on the arm of the couch. Taking a long glance around the room she sat back down, not quite ready to leave the warmth. Juliet heard a loud meow coming from upstairs, followed by a hiss when suddenly one of Brittany's pet strays came bolting down the stairs and hopped up next to her burying its face under a blanket. "Did you walk in on the kitty Valentine's date?" Juliet mused to the pup. She was surprised they hadn't been disturbed earlier in the night by any of the furry creatures but realized Santana must've just left the door to the basement open when she left.

She pet the scraggly little thing and thought about how their lives were not really that different. Both just trying to find a place where they belonged, somewhere to be warm and safe. Juliet knew she needed to figure out what she was going to do about her living situation long term, this whole equipment shed thing was not sustainable.

"I just don't know what to do anymore, where do I go from here." Juliet scratched behind the little dogs ears as she spoke aloud. Suddenly a voice spoke from the stairs that made Juliet jump.

"I'm not interrupting any lady time am I?" Brittany held her hand over her eyes but was peeking out between her fingers. A fat, very annoyed looking cat fidgeted in her arm.

Juliet took a breath to calm herself, her heart still beating fast from the scare. "No Britt, you're okay. It's just me here, I'm sorry I know it's late. I'm about to leave." Juliet stood up and grabbed her bag but didn't realize it was open as everything spilled out onto the floor.

Brittany came down the rest of the stairs, put the cat down and leaned down to help Juliet pick up her things. Seeing the fallen pamphlet Brittany got oddly excited. "Ms. Pillsbury has the best pamphlets, I keep trying to get her to use some of my designs."

Juliet quickly snatched it out of her hands and laughed nervously. "Yeah, I don't know why she gave me that one. She's an odd duck." An awkward silence followed.

"You know you can always stay here if you want." Brittany said as she handed Juliet the last thing that had fallen out.

Juliet turned red and fumbled with her bag as she tried to sling it over her shoulder. "No I'm okay, I should be getting back." She looked around before finding her jacket underneath the pool table.

"I don't think the equipment shed will miss you. Lord Tubbington has it on good authority that a family of rats moved in this morning." Brittany plopped onto the couch, pulled out her phone and idly started scrolling.

Juliet froze in her tracks. Brittany apparently knew a lot more than she ever let on.

"I… what? How? I'm not…" Her voice began to tremble.

"You should probably replace Sue's protein powder though, she gets mean when she's hungry." Brittany held her phone off to the side and glanced over. "Well, more mean." She sat back up on the couch and shrugged.

"No one really uses this basement except on Wednesday nights." Brittany leaned towards Juliet as if to whisper a secret."It's for the Feline AA meeting, it's supposed to be unanimous so no outsiders allowed."

Juliet stood in the middle of the room, flabbergasted. She was fairly certain Britt meant 'anonymous' but right now it was hard to be certain of anything. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, they hardly had ever even hung out just the two of them. Juliet's first instinct was to reject the offer, she felt bad enough as it is that her and Santana defiled Brittany's basement tonight.

Brittany got up and walked over towards Juliet, her tone of voice becoming softer. "Santana doesn't know does she?"

Any resolve Juliet had fell away with that one accusation. She dropped her head to stare towards the ground not being able to bring herself to face the reality of her situation now that it's been said aloud. Unexpectedly, Brittany reached out and pulled her forward into a tight hug.

 **"** **She deserves to know." Brittany whispered.**

Juliet had no more fight left in her. She wanted to continue to deny what Brittany clearly already knew and even more so, she wanted to defend her reasoning to not tell Santana. But in this moment the need for a safety net was winning and all the reasons she had been giving herself all week for going through this alone didn't seem to make any sense anymore. Juliet let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and sank into the comfort of Brittany's hug.


	10. Chapter 10A - RB Trainwreck Extravaganza

****NOTES****

This is part one of a section of this story that we were attempting to fit all in one chapter but it got way too long! This might seem like a bit of set up but hopefully you still enjoy it! Next section will be posted soon.

As always please comment and let us know what you think! Thanks again to Kimby ( kimbyinprogess)

Chapter 10

It had been a few weeks since that eventful Valentine's Day, and Juliet had created a comfortable routine staying with Brittany. Living there was better than Juliet ever could have imagined. Both of Brittany's parents were so nice, a little eccentric, but that was to be expected. They never pressured her to try and reconnect with her family, or really talk about what happened at all. Just like Brittany, they were willing to lend a helping hand without expecting much in return. As an added benefit, Brittany, Santana, and Juliet were hanging out more, the three of them, like actual friends. The more time Juliet spent around Brittany the more she understood her and Santana's friendship. Brittany's innocence seemed to bring out a softer side of Santana, one that Juliet usually only saw when they were alone.

It hadn't been that long ago when Juliet was sneaking _out_ of her house, but over the last few weeks she instead had been sneaking back _in_. She had only taken a small duffle bag with her when she originally left so the ability to grab more of her clothes and sentimental items took a lot of stress off her. After awhile though she had to stop; the more she went the more depressed she got about the situation, and the more she longed for that quintessential family life she used to have.

But eventually Juliet hit a turning point, instead of dwelling on whether or not her parents were even thinking of her, she made the decision to throw herself into her relationship, her friendships, and glee club. Her relationship with Santana seemed to be in a really great place, despite the huge secret Juliet was keeping. Thankfully, Santana seemed to have stopped asking questions that Juliet didn't want to answer. Whether this came about because Juliet stopped looking homeless or if it was just because she stopped acting like a complete asshole, Juliet was not going to question it.

In fact, it seemed as if Santana was loosening up on the secrecy a bit, even inviting Juliet over to her place. She still had her sneak in through the back, but before Valentine's day Santana's was a no fly zone if parents were home, so it was a start. A week of being shut out and pushed away by Juliet had really scared her, enough for her to now be overcompensating a bit. Juliet could see the shift occurring in their relationship, Santana felt this need to prove herself. Juliet kept trying to tell her that it wasn't necessary, she was very happy with where they were, but that just seemed to push Santana to try even harder.

The more the two of them continued to date, the more Juliet really thought she maybe was falling in love. Underneath all her snark and sass, was a genuine human being who actually cared a lot about other people. Being around Santana was fun, she kept everyone on their toes, but she also made Juliet feel safe. Although Santana still was terrified of being outed, she found little ways at school or in public to let Juliet know she cared and that this wasn't just some fun secret or game. They seem to find a lot more time to sneak underneath the bleachers (Santana loved that place), and Juliet would find cute little notes or gifts in her locker at random times of the day. She thought about how this Santana was almost unrecognizable from the one she got to know near the beginning of the school year. Juliet started to feel a lot more secure in the idea that she wouldn't just run away when she told her what had happened. She knew she had to tell her soon, she wanted to for herself, but also to get Brittany off her back. That girl was starting to drive her bat shit crazy, but in like an adorable loving way that you just couldn't be mad at. She would pop up out of nowhere and ask, or even send some of the pups downstairs with little notes, "Check yes or no, will you be telling Santana tonight?"

* * *

It was Thursday and glee club practice had ended early, so as per the usual Juliet and Santana were hanging out with Brittany in her basement. Honestly this setup was suiting everyone well, Brittany got to see more of her best friend, Juliet had a roof over her head and Santana got to be her true self with her favorite people. They were supposed to be studying, but that rarely happened when they were all together and their textbooks hadn't even made it out of their backpacks this time. Instead, Brittany wanted to show them the new dance routine she was going to perform in glee club while Artie sang alongside. The girl could really dance, like jaw dropping, eyes popping amazing. Not to mention she had choreographed the whole thing herself, probably the only person in glee club that could, besides Mike.

"Get it Britt Britt!" Santana grinned and cheered as Brittany finished up her routine. Juliet gave a huge smile as she leaned over to nudge Santana with her shoulder. In this safe environment free from judgmental eyes it was almost like they couldn't go more than 30 seconds without some form physical contact.

"Crushed it." Brittany fist pumped when the music ended. Juliet and Santana hooted and hollered as they gave her a standing, well sitting more upright, ovation.

"That was amazing Britt! But please explain to me why you insist on dancing with that robot loser. You can sing, just do the whole thing yourself." Santana stood up during her tirade. Before she got too far out of reach Juliet grabbed at her ankle trying to get her attention. Brittany didn't need protecting, especially not from Santana, but it was almost like Juliet had to sometimes keep Santana from putting her own foot in her mouth.

Brittany just shrugged. "But doesn't Artie's voice just make your knees wobbly? I mean it made his own knees so wobbly they don't even work anymore!" Santana stopped dead in her tracks and looked like she might keel over from the laugh she was trying desperately to suppress. Instead she did the next best thing and grabbed the closest pillow off the couch, chucking it straight at Brittany.

Juliet was about to jump in when Santana's phone rang next to her on the floor. A photo of her Abuela popped up on the screen. Santana heard the ringtone and winced. "I forgot that she was coming over tonight for dinner." Juliet tossed her the phone and Santana quickly answered it as she walked over to the far side of the room.

Brittany glanced over at Juliet while Santana was preoccupied and subtly pushed Lord Tubbington in her direction. When the fat cat finally reached where Juliet was sitting she noticed a small piece of paper attached to his collar. Before reading it she looked up and saw Brittany grinning at her like a little kid waiting for their prize. All the note said was, "now?"

Juliet crumpled the paper, tossing it over her shoulder and shrugged. She looked away from Brittany and attempted to avoid the subject altogether. Things have just been so good lately, she really doesn't want the happy streak to end quite yet.

Santana finished her call and walked back over. "Sorry ladies, my Abuela has threatened to starve me if I don't come home in the next 10 minutes. Juliet do you want a ride?" Santana put her Cheerios jacket on and started grabbing her things as she waited for an answer.

Juliet just shook her head no, trying to avoid eye contact. "I told Britt we would have a tutoring session tonight, there's an algebra test tomorrow." She wondered when she got so good at lying to her girlfriend. Brittany just nodded enthusiastically and pulled a crayon out of her pocket "I sharpened my green one because last time they told me I couldn't do the test in red crayon."

Santana raised an eyebrow and then broke out into a grin. "It really makes me so happy to see you two becoming friends. My best friend and my girlfriend getting along, what more can a girl ask for!" She gave Britt a quick hug goodbye before crouching down to where Juliet was still leaning on the floor. Santana leaned in for an embrace and whispered into Juliet's ear. "Thank you for helping Britt out, I don't know what I'd do if she didn't graduate with us."

Brittany's basement was one of the few places they didn't have to hide their relationship so there was no way Juliet was going to let Santana get away with just a hug. As she started to pull away to stand up, Juliet hooked her hands into Santana's jacket pockets and pulled her back down for a passionate kiss. Santana lost her balance, either from the momentum of the tug or possibly the surprise of the kiss. She fell straight into Juliet's lap causing both of them to giggle as they pulled apart.

"Whoa." Santana sat in a daze as Juliet grinned at her. "I'll keep a slot open for a private tutoring session and we can work on your landing techniques." Juliet whispered in Santana's ear as she lightly squeezed her side and kissed her cheek.

Santana blushed, something she rarely did, and wondered when her girlfriend got this feisty. Usually it would be her dishing out the flirty one liners. Not about to question what was causing this fun switcheroo of roles, Santana quickly pulled her into one last hug. Over Juliet's shoulder she could see Brittany upside down in a handstand, clearly not bothered by any of what just happened. Santana laughed and hoisted herself up off the floor. "Alright, alright I really have to go." Santana begrudgingly grabbed her keys and waved at the two of them as she ran up the stairs.

Brittany came down from her handstand as the door to the basement closed. She grabbed her crayons and math textbook and sat down on the floor next to Juliet. Juliet looked over at her in disbelief. "Britt, I wasn't serious about the tutoring, I'm horrible at math. I just didn't know what else to say and didn't want Santana to start asking question again if I refused a ride home."

Brittany smiled and threw her textbook to the side. "Oh good, I already did the assignments for next week in purple crayon, and I didn't really want to re-do them. Besides green is more for biology homework then math anyway." Juliet raised an eyebrow and stared at her quizzically. Brittany just shrugged and pet Lord Tubbington who hadn't seemed to move since his long trek to deliver his note. "Everyone thinks I'm dumb you know, but I'm not." She paused. "I mean it's not like I'm lying to my girlfriend about where I'm living."

Juliet sighed and laid back down on the floor of the basement in a huff. She knew Brittany was right, about both things. She just needed to come up with a plan first on how to tell Santana.

* * *

It was Friday morning and Santana was loitering at the bike racks, if anyone asked she definitely was not waiting for Juliet. She had an iced tea in hand, was scrolling on her phone and pretty much oblivious to the outside world.

"Hey S." From seemingly out of nowhere Quinn slid up beside her with a smug grin on her face.

Santana flinched and her drink went flying. "Fuck Quinn! Why do you have to come slithering up to me like some soul sucking heathen." Santana flicked her wrists trying to get the last drops of liquid off her hands and did a quick once over making sure her uniform came out unscathed.

"Wow Santana, having blasphemy for breakfast I see. _Anyway_ , I just wanted to remind you that Coach Sue moved up our practice. Don't be late, we can't have a proper pyramid without a solid foundation." Quinn smirked at herself.

Santana rolled her eyes walking over to the trash on the other side of the bike rack. She looked longingly at her now empty cup before tossing it away, she really could have used that caffeine especially with Quinn already starting things this early. "What is up with you lately? You've turned into such a bitch and here I was thinking we were good friends. Don't get me wrong, I like a good cat and mouse fight, but what about the sanctity of the unholy trinity?"

Quinn was giving Santana a once over, she looked like she might say something profound, or potentially just another insult when they were interrupted by the sound of dogs barking to the tune of jingle bells, there's only one person who's horn makes that sound. Looking up they saw Brittany's car almost hit a skateboarder and then proceed to pull into a parking spot a few feet away. Juliet got out of the passenger seat laughing, clearly in mid conversation with Brittany as they both grabbed their backpacks and headed towards Santana and Quinn.

Quinn clicked her tongue and raised her eyebrow. "Ah...what light through yonder window breaks." She said flatly. Santana paused in confusion. Why was Brittany giving Juliet a ride to school? Trying to deduce what she was looking at, Santana hadn't even noticed Quinn's obvious Romeo and Juliet remark, or that she had walked away entirely. Santana snapped out of it quickly and made her way towards her girlfriend and her best friend.

"Hey you two…. Juliet you know I can give you a ride to school if you ever need one?" Santana fell in step with the two girls as they made their way towards the entrance. She knew Juliet supported her decision to keep their relationship under wraps but that didn't diminish her desire to _want_ to act like a girlfriend.

Juliet glanced over at Brittany who was wearing her 'perfect timing say something' expression she usually got, but she had a plan now so wanted to stick to it. Unfortunately, that meant lying again "Brittany offered me one last night. You know I usually like riding my bike but this cold snap lately is just too much. I really could use a bonus blanket when night time comes around though." She winked at Santana who was trying real hard to stifle the blush that was creeping up. Somehow ending a lie with something flirty always helped to convince her, or possibly just made her too distracted to realize. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something. Did you hear about the party Rachel is throwing?"

Santana rolled her eyes and laughed. "Yeah, seems like a disaster waiting to happen. I think I fully laughed out loud when I got the text." She opened the door to the front of the school and let Brittany and Juliet walk in, chivalry is alive and well in Ohio.

Juliet was about to continue talking when Artie came rolling up to them, smiling at Brittany. "Hey, are you guys going to Rachel's party tomorrow?" Brittany grabbed the handles of his chair and started rolling him down the hallway. Very few people were allowed to push Artie, usually it would make him feel weak or even emasculated, but there were a couple close friends who could. When Brittany did, it just felt natural, like her pushing his wheelchair was the equivalent of holding hands. "Puck told me he could score us some alcohol, if he comes through I think it actually could be kind of fun." With a grin on his face, he twisted his head back to see what the three of them thought.

"I'm totally down!" Brittany grinned immediately. She always loves a good party, any excuse to dance. She glanced over at Juliet and Santana. "You guys have to go."

Santana scoffed. "You can't be serious. You want to give up your Saturday night and spend it in the hobbit's basement?"

Looking over at Santana with pleading eyes, Juliet was finally able to get a word in. "I think it could be fun, and if it's not fun we'll just leave and have our own party. Please Santana, last woman standing, say you'll go!"

Santana huffed and crossed her arms, she stopped at her locker but just leaned against it and faced the group. After a long pause she said, "Just promise me there will be booze…"

Juliet practically squealed while Brittany jumped up and down, clapping in excitement. Just in time to ruin all the fun, the first warning bell rang. Brittany and Artie split off to head to their classes, leaving Juliet and Santana by her locker.

"Are we seriously going to this?" Santana asked as she grabbed her English notebook.

Juliet just leaned against the row of lockers with a smug grin on her face. "We are, and you know why?" Santana, now very intrigued, gave Juliet her full attention. "I convinced Brittany to let us spend the night at her place after the party. So, we are most definitely going."

Santana's whole face lit up. "Wait are you serious?" She paused, thinking over what this new development could mean. "But how did you get permission to stay over? Your mom pretty much has you banned from all sleepovers." She leaned in closer, whispering into Juliet's ear. "Otherwise we would've had a lot more by now."

Juliet smiled with a quick shrug. "I'm not questioning it. _Please_ tell me you can spend the night too. I've really been looking forward to having a bonus blanket all night." Juliet reached up to play with Santana's collar after a brief glance at the empty hallway.

Santana smirked. "Are you kidding? There's no way I'm going to miss this." She leaned against her locker and went to reach for Juliet's hand.

The two jumped apart quickly when they heard a classroom door slam shut. Santana glanced at the clock and quickly noted that they were the only ones still left in the hall. Knowing Juliet had history first thing, she gently grabbed her by the hips and spun her towards the right direction.

"Better get to class missy, if you get detention there's no way you'll be allowed to spend the night." With a wink and a smile, Santana lightly smacked Juliet on the ass to get her moving down the hall. Juliet gasped in shock which quickly fell away to laughter, Santana continued to get bolder in public the longer they were together. Juliet scurried towards her class, excited about the possibilities a full night of fun will bring, but hesitant knowing that tomorrow will be the day she tells Santana everything.

* * *

Santana drove herself over to Rachel's, having decided whatever happened later she would just come pick her car up in the morning. She couldn't believe she was actually looking forward to attending a Rachel Berry party. She realized it had been way too long since she was at a legit party, and even then she'd left early to have her own private party with Juliet. Thinking of Juliet, Santana quickly placed her car in park and adjusted the rearview mirror to see herself more clearly. She didn't know what tonight would bring for the two of them, but she'd be damned if her eye liner wasn't on point. At that same moment she noticed Brittany's car pull up and park behind her. There was someone in the passenger seat... Santana didn't think Brittany was giving Artie a ride but as she went to get out of her own car she noticed it wasn't Artie but Juliet. Brittany gave Juliet a ride again? It's sweet they were getting closer but Britt lived further away from Juliet's house than she did. So weird, why didn't her own girlfriend ask her for a ride again?

Brittany turned to Santana and pumped both her fists in the air. "Let's get ready to rumble!" Juliet laughed, quickening her step around the car to catch up with them. It was a rare occurrence for Santana to not be in her cheerios uniform and Juliet was fully appreciating the skin tight, blue striped dress. The only way the outfit could get hotter is if Santana was wearing Juliet's leather jacket. Making a mental note of the idea, Juliet was sure she'd figure out a way to make that happen.

"We have to get you out of that uniform more often." Juliet placed her hand on the small of Santana's back and pulled her in tight against her. Santana knew no one was currently out on the street but her thoughts immediately switch to how difficult tonight was going to be having alcohol in her system. Trying to control her impulses and not touch or kiss Juliet in front of the others was going to be rough. As they approached the front walkway, Santana ran her fingers through Juliet's hair before breaking the contact. Pausing, she looked Juliet in the eyes and tried to be serious for a minute. "Hey, next time call me for a ride okay? I don't mind, in fact I want to."

Juliet pulled away with a half smile, shifting her gaze towards the ground. "I know, I know. I um, figured it would be easier to drop my stuff off at Brittany's for later." Trying to switch gears, Juliet looped one arm through her girlfriend's and the other one through Brittany's pulling them towards the door. "Time to get our drink on!"

Brittany nudged Juliet in the side. "Did you know that tequila holds magical powers? It can make people reveal hidden truths." Santana raised an eyebrow wondering what hidden truths Brittany could be referring to when practically the entire glee club chose that moment to show up and hurry them through the door. There was definitely a bottle of tequila in Puck's hand; that would be enough for Santana but she mused what everyone else was going to drink.

* * *

Santana hadn't planned on drinking so much so fast. She took a moment to scan the room, Puck was wandering around the basement handing out shots while Rachel and a few other gleeks drunkenly belted off-key show tunes numbers on her personal full-sized stage. Mr. Schue would be horrified, but Santana had to admit she was surprisingly enjoying herself.

Glancing over at Juliet who was clearly nursing her drink, Santana tried not to think about how all she wanted to push her up against a wall right now. Clad in almost all black, Juliet's v-neck sported a small square pocket with an embroidered elephant. God, she was so damn cute. And sweet. And strong. Santana wanted to hold her close and fuck her hard all at the same time. Damn, tequila made her a horny and emotional mess. She couldn't mingle with Juliet just yet, at least not until everyone else was a little more drunk. Santana meandered over to the dance floor and tried to throw all her energy into grooving to the music.

Juliet watched her from afar, she could tell her girlfriend was purposefully keeping her distance. The first time they drank tequila together they ended up having sex, so having some space between them was a smart move. Juliet was determined to stick to her plan and tell Santana everything once they were back at Britt's. That meant it was probably for the best for her to remain as sober as possible. She looked to her left and saw Kurt swaying to the music, he looked like he wasn't drinking either, a sober buddy might be nice to make it through the evening.

"What's with the empty cup?" Juliet slid over, giving him a quick side hug as she asked. He looked over his shoulder, "I don't want to get too sloppy, I'm trying to impress Blaine."

Juliet followed his gaze and saw Blaine attempting to breakdance, a skill he clearly doesn't have. "Good luck with that." She chuckled. Her gaze shifted across the dance floor to Brittany, half naked standing on top of a table, acting like a stripper. Artie was throwing dollar bills at her as she peeled her already unbuttoned shirt off. That seems on brand. Her eyes settled back onto Santana who was yelling in Spanish at Sam, for no clear reason. Another thing that seemed on brand. Juliet laughed at the images before her; going slow on the alcohol wasn't all that bad with all the entertainment her friends were providing. Kurt followed her eye line and raised his eyebrow. "Your girl seems to be on the same level as my Warbler over here."

Juliet just shrugged. She accepted there wasn't much she could do, this was just how Santana was when she drank. Sometimes hysterical, sometimes weepy, sometimes a big sap. "Alcohol makes her a bit...emotional." Juliet thought that word summed it up quite nicely. Kurt gave an understanding nod and the two of them settled in for a long, but hopefully eventful evening.

Like a tiny tornado, Tina came running passed Juliet heading towards the stage. Juliet smiled at Kurt as they anxiously awaited what song would be coming next, hopefully NOT more showtunes. To everyone's delight, Tina started into "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett. The party cranked up a notch as guests began doing body shots off a practically-naked Brittany. Juliet watched as her girlfriend licked salt from her best friends stomach followed by a monster shot of tequila. Not so long ago seeing this would have made her insanely jealous and insecure, but they all seemed to be on the same page lately. It actually made Juliet jealous she wasn't joining in on the fun...not to mention a bit turned on.

As the song ended everyone scattered in different directions and Juliet took the opportunity to head towards the drink table. The plan was to be somewhat sober for tonight's big conversation but, that was later...much later from the look of things. Halfway there, a very intoxicated Santana stumbled straight into her and almost fell on her ass before Juliet caught her. "Whoa there, maybe you should slow down a little babe, the night is still young." Juliet tried her best to steady Santana against the nearest wall. There was a twinkle in Santana's eye and she flashed a coy little grin as she pulled Juliet by one of her belt loops closer to her, practically pressing their bodies up against each other. Juliet's breath hitched, almost forgetting where they were, when Santana leaned in to whisper "Or maybe… I should speed up instead." Wrapping her arm around Juliet's back, Santana snuck her hand up and under her shirt clearly heading towards her bra strap. Juliet's synapses were practically overloading and it took everything she had to resist the urge to just say "the hell with it" and go in and kiss her but instead she begrudgingly extricated herself from Santana's embrace.

"Hey, hey, as much as it pains me to say it, let's save this for later, ya?" She glanced around the room to see if anyone had noticed them, thankfully they were in the clear. Who would have guessed a bunch of drunk teenagers would be so oblivious to what's going on right in front of them. Santana began to pout and Juliet could tell she was about to get all weepy so she moved them over to the drinks table where she quickly got to mixing her special concoction saved for only her most favorite of people. Unbeknownst to Santana, her cup was being filled with pure water masked with some lime juice and a splash of tonic water, with an orange slice for garnish; she'll never notice.

"OMG! You're the best!" With a wink to her girl, Santana spun on her heels, new drink in hand, and went off to find where Sasquatch and Hobbit were hiding. Juliet just sighed and wondered if telling Santana tonight was a good plan after all as she clearly was working towards blacking out. Juliet had to admit, a heart to heart after a party was not one of her better plans. At this point, she wished she could just get on Santana's level, but wasn't sure she trusted both of them to be drunk and not _accidentally_ out themselves to the rest of the club. This whole charade was getting to be very exhausting, so many different secrets to try and keep. Juliet threw back a shot of tequila and headed towards the bathroom. She needed a break to cool herself off since she could practically still feel Santana's hands roaming her body.

* * *

Juliet looked up at herself in the mirror as water droplets made tracks down to her chin. In hindsight, splashing cold water against her face was not the smartest idea considering she was not wearing waterproof eyeliner. She rarely made any effort at all to put on makeup, so she was a bit perturbed that she already fucked it up. How had every aspect of her life become so difficult and complicated?

Dabbing away the last of the smudges Juliet was pulled from her musings by the sound of dry heaving. Popping up out of the bathtub like she had been lit on fire, Quinn instantly keeled over the toilet seat. Had she been there this whole time? Juliet was definitely consumed with her own thoughts, but how she managed to completely miss her she will never know. This girl was Santana level drunk and the night was still young. Suddenly, the blonde cheerleader started to lose what little she had clearly eaten that day. Pulling Juliet out of her own head, she quickly went to Quinn's side and grabbed her hair out of the way.

"Hey, it's okay." Juliet quietly soothed as she rubbed circles on her back. "Do you want me to go grab you water or anything?" Quinn shook her head in between waves, not trusting her ability to get words out. As the puking subsided, Juliet stood up to make a damp washcloth and place it on the back of the drunk girl's neck. Quinn slumped back onto the floor, leaning against the cool porcelain bathtub with her head resting on her knees.

Without lifting her head, or moving much at all, Quinn reached out to grab hold of one of Juliet's hands and pull it in close to her. "You're so nice, why are you so nice? I'm never nice to you." She was slurring quite a bit but was focusing on her words enough to get them across. "You're just like 'I'm Juliet, I'm joining glee club and I can rock the short hair. Look how hot I am in button ups and I don't care what anyone thinks of me.'" Quinn let out a deep sigh. "It's honestly vomit worthy." She winced at her last words, wanting to forget what had brought her to the bathroom mere moments ago.

So Quinn must be an honest, bare your soul, kind of drunk. Juliet wasn't sure what to make of this conversation but she thought it best to see it through and took a seat on the cold tile; very aware that Quinn had their fingers intertwined and was not letting go. "Uh...thanks? I wouldn't exactly say I don't care what people think of me though." Juliet thought about how half her stress this year was because of exactly that reason. Quinn just shrugged and laid her head on Juliet's shoulder. Juliet tensed, she was not expecting this behavior from Quinn of all people. "Um, Quinn are you okay? I've never partied with the cheerios before but do you guys usually go this hard so early in the night?"

Quinn scoffed, lifting her head off of Juliet's shoulder. "Why do you care?" Getting defensive, Quinn snapped at her. "Shouldn't you be in some corner making out with Santana..." Juliet's heart started beating a million times a minute. "Or Brittany, or heck do you think Rachel probably would now that she's got a whole wine cooler in her?" Quinn was just staring at her and Juliet's head started buzzing. Did Quinn know she was gay? Did she know about Santana or was that just the first name that popped in her mind? What had even prompted her to bring this up at all? How did she know? What if -

Juliet's thoughts were on a loop of questions when suddenly the image of Quinn leaning in very close jolted her back into the present. Was Quinn trying to kiss her? Juliet jumped back, pulling herself away from Quinn's grasp and putting space between them. "Whoa. Hold on." Juliet put her hand on Quinn's shoulder, creating a physical barrier of sorts. "Okay clearly you're pretty wasted right now. I'm not sure you are even aware of what you're doing." A flash of clear hurt ran through Quinn's eyes as she shook off Juliet's hand.  
Juliet sank back down on the floor taking in a brief silence. She tried to process what just happened and decided to give Quinn the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was hurting just as much as Juliet was, but didn't know how to express it properly. "You know..." Juliet paused, trying to find the right words. "We may not be close but I'm here if you ever need to talk about anything. I'm a pretty good listener." Juliet's words seemed to spark a shift in Quinn's attitude. She spun her gaze back over to look Juliet straight in the eyes. "Listen here you failed Shakespearean romance. Don't flatter yourself. I'm nothing like you." Quinn leaned her head back and squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm not gay. I'm not."

Juliet flinched at the sound of Quinn saying those words aloud. So she did know. But how? Better yet, what should she do about it. She thought about how many other girls who were in fact gay, tell people that they aren't, and wondered if Quinn was really trying to tell her something or if she was playing some cruel game. As Juliet weighed her options on what to say next, Quinn rapidly shifted back on her knees and started puking again.

Juliet scrunched her nose up in disgust. Enough of this, she wasn't going to be a babysitter to crazy, confused, drunk cheerleaders tonight. Not unless it was her crazy, cute, drunk cheerleader girlfriend. This quick bathroom stop was meant to help Juliet regroup so she could enjoy the rest of the party, yet somehow she managed to enter into the maze of Quinn's inner workings. She had no more energy to put into this situation, Quinn was clearly going to be blacking out tonight so likely, hopefully, would remember none of it anyhow. Juliet lifted herself off the floor, washed her hands, and left the bathroom. She needed a drink… or three.


	11. Chapter 10B - RB Trainwreck Extravaganza

_**NOTES**_

 _Thanks again for reading! Here is the second part of the last chapter. Please let us know what you think! We love comments and constructive criticism. Thanks as always to my co-writer Kimby (kimbyinprogress on twitter)._

Chapter 10B

Juliet threw back another shot. The burn was beginning to lessen and she barely even needed a chaser this time. She had lost count on how much she had consumed but was fairly certain she'd done a decent job in catching up to her friends. Worrying about Quinn and the fact that she knew her secret could wait for another day. There is really only so much a girl can handle and Juliet's plate was already overflowing. So far she had been pretty successful at keeping her distance from Santana, but the effects of the alcohol were setting in and her inhibitions were rapidly fading. She surveyed the room, taking note that most of her friends were drunk off their asses and everything was really loud and busy. Zeroing in on her target, Juliet watched Santana lean against the wall on the other side of the dance floor, talking to Mike of all people. Tequila was telling her that she needed some alone time with her girlfriend so she looked around til she spotted Tina. Just the person she needed to make her plan come to fruition.

"Hey Tina! Looks like Mike gets flirty when he drinks." She chuckled and nudged Tina in the side, hoping she would get the picture. Juliet had nothing against Mike, she was pretty sure he was being gentleman. But he was the one thing standing between her and Santana, so he had to go. Tina glanced over with a frown and walked directly between the pair of friends, surprising Mike with a whopper of a kiss and then dragging him off to the dance floor. If looks could talk, Juliet was pretty sure Tina gave Santana one that said "hands off or I'll cut you."

Once she was left on her own, Santana's gaze landed on Juliet who quickly made her way over. "Just the person I was hoping to see next." Santana grabbed a fistful of Juliet's shirt and pulled her in closer, clearly she hadn't been moving fast enough. Juliet giggled, she desperately wanted to kiss her but instead occupied her mouth by taking another sip of her almost empty drink. "Who, me?" Her eyes fixated on her girlfriend when she noticed her cup was empty as well. "Want me to make us another round?"

Santana leaned her head in close, almost touching their foreheads. "Hun, I think I'll pass on another one of your special concoctions. I'm in the mood for something a bit spicier than water." She smirked as she pulled her head back, remembering the fast one her girlfriend tried to pull on her earlier. Juliet felt herself melting at her expression, smartass flirtatious Santana always gave her goosebumps. Not appreciating the space that had made its way between them, Juliet grabbed both their empty cups and tossed them in the trash. She leaned close into Santana, one hand resting beside her head against the wall, the other playing with the rather short hem of her dress just barely teasing her outer thigh. In their tequila induced haze, neither girl had the mind to care if anyone was watching them. Juliet noticed Santana bite her lower lip as her gaze drifted downwards. Inhibitions officially gone, she leaned in to _finally_ kiss her when -

"WHO WANTS TO PLAY SPIN THE BOTTLE!" Rachel's bellowing immediately caused Santana and Juliet to jump apart. They both glanced over towards the stage at the other end of the room and noticed Rachel, with pink flushed cheeks, screeching into the mic. "Spin. The. Bottle!" She hollered again.

Santana looked back over at Juliet with a mischievous grin. Juliet raised an eyebrow. "You want to play? I didn't think this was your type of thing." Santana's grin grew even bigger and she shook her head. "Nope, but you're going to play." Santana giggled as she turned Juliet to face the center of the room where everyone was starting to gather. She leaned her head onto her shoulder "I've kissed pretty much every person in this room and I don't need that torture again. Seeing you do it however...now that's a fantasy I didn't even know I had." She whispered flirtatiously into her ear.

Juliet shivered under the feel of Santana's breath on her neck. She was grateful for that last drink as anything less and she likely would have protested. If Santana was giving her the go ahead then she wasn't going to argue, but she was going to make her work for it. Juliet gave her hand a squeeze as she laid out her price. "Make me another drink and I'll consider it, but you'll owe me." Santana quickly poured a mixture of whatever was left on that table and handed it off to Juliet. "You got yourself a deal! Now get your cute ass over there." She lightly slapped Juliet on the butt and pushed her towards the middle of the room where the circle was being formed.

"Got any room for one more?" With a few nods from the group, Juliet scooted in between Mercedes and Finn, the first spin had only just begun. As the next few rounds went by, Juliet found herself cracking up at the pairings that ensued. When it was her turn, she took a deep breath and sent that glass bottle spinning, not really thinking about who it might end up on. As it slowed down Juliet realized the circle was pretty evenly split boys and girls but before she could contemplate what that might mean, it landed on none other than trouty mouth himself, Sam Evans.

The whole room starting whooping and laughing. Juliet could feel her face flush a little red as she glanced over at Sam who just smiled his signature boyband smile. If there was any boy she was going to have to kiss, Sam likely was the best option. Objectively he was adorable and just as nice as one would think. Juliet discreetly glanced up at Santana who was sitting on a chair behind the circle, she was cheering along with the rest of them, grinning widely. With the reassurance in Santana's smile, Juliet relaxed and followed Sam's lead leaning in towards the center of the circle. Sam reached gingerly behind her head, pulling their lips closer until they connected. His mouth engulfed her own but he was soft and sweet about it. When they pulled apart after a few seconds, Sam grinned at her and cocked his head a little to the side, like he was looking at her for the first time. Juliet blushed as she sat back down, her hand going up to her own lips, it had been quite some time since she kissed anyone besides Santana. She felt Mercedes give her a pat on the back as she glanced back up at her girl who merely winked at her.

Juliet's head was spinning. This night was turning into something she never could have imagined. Not sure if she was going to regret this or not, she took another sip of her drink and focused back in on the exhilarating game. A few more rounds went by and Juliet had gotten a full blown attack of the giggles. She was laughing about something ridiculous Mercedes had said when all of a sudden her classmates began shrieking, even more so than they already had been. Pulled from her side conversation, Juliet looked down at the bottle and noticed it was pointed straight at her. Her heart skipped a beat with anticipation as she looked around to find whose turn it had been. After scanning most of the group her eyes landed on Brittany, who was staring straight at her with her goofy smile she always wore. Normally, this situation would've caused Juliet to have an existential crisis. Kissing her girlfriend's best friend? That was asking for all kinds of trouble. But right now, beyond drunk in Rachel's basement, amidst the free flowing hormones and the pent up sexual energy Juliet was housing, she could give two shits to common sense. In fact, wasn't this exactly what Santana wanted? Juliet could kiss all the boys in the room but kissing another girl would definitely be a turn on for her, at least she hoped. She saw that twinkle in Brittany's eyes staring back at her and it made her heart pound a little faster. Brittany was cute, and oh so very sweet, not to mention way smarter than anyone gave her credit for. Just because Juliet had a girlfriend didn't mean that it stopped her from _appreciating_ the aesthetics of other girls; that was a natural thing.

Brittany crawled towards Juliet on her hands and knees, using her index finger to beckon her to come closer. That was all Juliet needed to block out the noise in her head and of the rest of her classmates and meet Brittany in the middle of the circle. She leaned in, releasing a nervous giggle, as Britt placed her finger under Juliet's chin, lifting it ever so slightly to meet her own. The kiss was soft at first and more gentle than anything she'd ever experienced. Just as Juliet began to pull back, Brittany moved her hands to cup the sides of her face and deepened it even more. She tasted sweet like cotton candy, and kissed like she knew exactly what she was doing. Brittany's kiss left Juliet feeling even more intoxicated than she already was. There's no wonder that as closeted as Santana had been, even to herself, she still couldn't deny how much she liked kissing her. She was just so damn good at it. Besides how good it felt, Juliet thought about how she was openly kissing a girl in front of her friends and no one was making that big of a deal about it. Of course it was because to them this was all just a game, but to Juliet this felt like some kind of unfound freedom.

The two finally broke apart as Juliet leaned back in a haze. As her eyes focused she could see Brittany grinning at her, as if this was just everyday shenanigans. Ducking her head down to hide the blush creeping up, Juliet felt like she was on cloud 9. The sound of the bottle spinning once again brought her back to reality and she glanced up to where Santana had been enjoying the festivities. Of all the things she expected to see, her girlfriend looking pissed was not one of them. They locked eyes and Juliet could practically feel the daggers Santana was shooting at her. Realizing the severity of the situation, Juliet merely hoped Santana wasn't about to make a scene. Usually that was her M.O. about anything she was upset over but Juliet didn't envision that working out well for anyone in this present situation.

Santana must have had a moment of sobriety, because instead of doing anything rash she simply put her cup down, got up, and walked towards the exit without so much as a word. Looking around at the circle, Juliet was pretty sure no one noticed the interaction had even occurred. Except for possibly Brittany, who at this point Juliet just assumed saw everything. Although, if Brittany had noticed anything, she gave no indication. Since their kiss she had already jumped back into Artie's lap and was still cheering on the game. While trying to figure out if she should let Santana cool off or if she should follow her immediately, Rachel's voice grabbed her attention. Now, standing in the middle of the circle, next to a very buffedled looking Blaine, Rachel was yelling something about finding a new duet partner. Juliet watched as she pulled Blaine to his feet and dragged him stumbling towards the stage. The circle quickly broke apart and Juliet saw this as her indication on what to do next. Quickly getting to her feet, she grabbed her jacket and headed in the direction she last saw Santana heading.

* * *

Santana stormed out the front door realizing she didn't really have much of a plan at all. She was more than pissed and if she stayed in that basement a few seconds longer she would have gone all Lima Heights on that party. She looked around noticing how dark the Ohio nights got this time of year. She wasn't driving anywhere that was for sure, and walking seemed pretty pointless as well. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the porch swing rocking slightly in the wind. Any other time and she'd be mocking Rachel for this antique but with no other option presenting itself she let out a deep sigh and went to go sit, instantly regretting her ensemble's lack of a jacket.

It had only been a few minutes before Juliet burst through the door like a woman on a mission. Santana was slightly amused with how concerned Juliet looked as she passed right by her and headed down the front steps, not even taking a second to glance around. "Serves her right to worry a little after that stunt she just pulled" Santana mused to herself. She watched as Juliet pulled her phone out of her pocket grumbling to the universe "where could she have gone?" Santana sat there silently, wanting to see how this all played out when she felt her phone vibrate followed by her ringtone blasting the "Parks and Rec" theme song.

Juliet spun around and instantly locked eyes with her. Santana didn't react at all, making zero movement to shut her phone off or even pick it up from where it lay beside her. For the remaining bars of the song they continued to stare at each other, a battle of wills. Only when it finally died down did Juliet come back up the stairs to join her on the swing.

"Santana…" Juliet started to speak, placing her hand on Santana's exposed thigh. It was clear to her that Juliet didn't know what she was going to say next. Santana guessed she was going first then, so she shifted around to face her girlfriend. Taking a deep breath, she felt the word vomit of angry Santana Diabla Lopez about to be unleashed.

"Okay listen, so normally I would've found that whole you and Brittany situation really hot, I mean intensely hot. But there's a lot of weird history between us three and...I've been trying to ignore it but I just keep wondering about why the two of you have been hanging out so much more alone. She's always giving you rides places and I mean, I don't know Juliet!" Santana raised her hands up in the air dramatically. "You two looked pretty comfortable mackin' on each other during that game- what am I supposed to think? I mean, Brittany can pretty much give you exactly what you want - she's completely open about what she wants and loves without care of what anyone else thinks. I thought her and I didn't work out because she liked Artie but maybe it had more to do with who I am and just _maybe_ you are starting to see the same things. I just don't know anymore!" Santana exhaled dramatically, somehow managing to say all of that in one breath. She hadn't really meant for it to come out like that. She rarely felt threatened by other people's choices but there was something about those two girls in particular that really got underneath her skin.

Juliet pulled her hand away from Santana's thigh looking like she had been insulted. "Let's get one thing straight. I am not _cheating_ on you with Brittany. Santana you can't be serious?" Santana just shrugged and crossed her arms, she was not about to make this easy. "I know what cheating looks like, trust me I've done it a lot." Santana spat coldly, she knew those words would cut Juliet deeply. Santana just couldn't shake the thought of her best friend and girlfriend actually doing anything behind her back. Maybe it was a little hypocritical but the idea had flickered on the outskirts of her subconscious for the last few weeks and she never gave it any real value until she saw them kiss. Now it was all she could think about and it just seemed so obvious. The fact that Juliet had suddenly gone quiet made her concerns grow even stronger with each passing moment.

Not able to suppress the sensation any longer, Santana's whole body shivered. A combination of the weather and her emotions running rampant it was the only reaction her body could physically manifest at that moment. Without missing a beat, Juliet took off her leather jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Santana hated it, even in a potentially relationship ending argument she still had to be so chivalrous. Normally she would've shrugged it off in defiance but it had gotten colder just in the time she'd been sitting outside, not to mention she secretly had been wanting to wear that jacket all night. The added fact that it smelled like Juliet was not helping her focus on staying mad. Pulling her thoughts away from the gesture, she realized Juliet continued to open and close her mouth, as if she was trying to form words but nothing was coming out. Santana, not wanting to give her any more time to think of excuses, was about to go off on her again when Juliet interjected with something she never could have expected.

"I came out to my Mom."

Santana froze, she couldn't have heard that right. She watched Juliet for a moment as she let the gravity of her statement sink in. Juliet was avoiding eye contact and fiddling with the ring she always wore on her thumb, it was nothing special just a simple band that suited her. Had Santana imagined her speaking? No, she definitely heard her but she could tell that however it went down, it hadn't gone well. She wished she could say she struggled to imagine what Juliet was going through, but in reality she could picture it perfectly, this situation was both of their worst nightmares.

Santana's heart broke as she saw a single tear make its way down Juliet's cheek. Sure she could be mad at the girl, but the two of them have been through so much, and she knew this was a lot bigger than any petty fight. Trying not to make any sudden movements, she stretched her arm out and around her girlfriend, scooting her closer. So many questions were running through her mind. Had Brittany known? When did this happen? Does this change anything, or even everything? Santana was pretty sure she didn't actually want any of the answers just yet.

Santana could feel Juliet begin to let herself relax into their embrace. The more she relaxed the tighter Santana held on to her. With an audible deep breath, making it all too clear to Santana just how hard this conversation was for her, she continued. "My Mom...she kicked me out of the house when I told her. I've been staying in Brittany's basement." Santana gently pulled Juliet's head on to her shoulder, running her hand through her curls, trying to give as much physical comfort as she could.

Santana sensed that there was likely much more to the story, so she continued to hold onto her, not saying a word, just trying to be there for her as much as she could in that moment. She wanted to know all the details but at the same time, the more information she was given the more the situation became a reality. The fact that people, and not just people but her own girlfriend, actually get kicked out of their homes by their families for being gay was something she knew happened but had been avoiding facing. Santana felt a war being waged inside of her head, half of her was angry and sad for Juliet, wanting to protect her and stand up for her. The other half of her was scared. So scared that this was just the beginning of every secret she held so close unraveling right in front of her.

A gush of cool air hit Santana as she felt Juliet slip her arm under the jacket and around her waist. They were cuddled up so closely together on the swing it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. Santana gave a hard squeeze to Juliet's arm, a non-verbal way of saying 'don't worry I'm right here', knowing that the last thing either of them needed now was thinking the other was slipping away. With the new revelation as to why Juliet was around Brittany so much lately, Santana had all but forgotten about what happened earlier in the night with the kiss. She knew Juliet would tell her the full story and how their mutual friend became involved when she felt ready. Santana could hear Juliet sniffle as she lifted her gaze to finally look her in the eye. Santana used her thumb to wipe away the remnants of her tears on her cheek and planted a tender kiss on her forehead. "What do you want to do?" Santana spoke softly. "We can go back inside the party, self medicate with a little more alcohol or…" She drifted off, she could feel the last drink she downed during spin the bottle hitting her, there was no way she would be able to drive in the immediate future and she really had no other ideas up her sleeve.

Santana froze as she saw Juliet reach a hand up, only to melt as she caressed the side of her face, how was it that she was now the one being comforted. Everything had become such a mess, but in that moment, with her girlfriend brushing pieces of her long dark hair behind her ear, Santana knew they'd figure this out. She knew deep down somehow, that together they could forge forward stronger. Juliet must have had the same thought as she declined going back to the party and simply stated "I just want to be here with you. Right now on this awful, stereotypical _American Dream_ porch swing." Santana let out a small giggle, Juliet was always so good at relieving tension with humor.

They sat there staring into each other's eyes for a good while when Juliet surprised Santana by leaning in and tentatively placing a soft kiss on her lips. The kiss quickly deepened as Juliet almost desperately pressed herself harder against Santana's embrace. The only way they could be any closer would be if Juliet was in Santana's lap, although she was pretty sure she'd have no objections to that scenario. Santana couldn't tell if it was the alcohol heightening their suppressed feelings from the evening or if this was Juliet trying to hold onto something she thought was going to slip away any second. Trying to provide some reassurance, Santana placed her hand on Juliet's neck, stroking the small patch of skin behind her ear. Here, in this moment, she was thinking about nothing other than needing Juliet to know that she was safe and wanted.

They stayed cuddled up on the swing for what felt like hours, neither truly knowing for how long they had been making out. The rest of the world had disappeared from existence, ignoring the 30 degree temperature outside and the fact that their classmates were only one floor below them, they were content to stay where they were for as long as they could. It wasn't until the screen door went flying open that they were catapulted back to reality. Santana was hesitant to let go of Juliet completely but added some space between them when they heard voices coming through the door. Juliet locked eyes with Kurt as he was the first to exit in front of what sounded like everyone following him. He raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him and smirked. "Evening ladies, it's such a nice night for some star gazing isn't it?" He chuckled at himself before pulling Blaine across the threshold of the door. Finn following quickly behind, keeping the warbler from face planting onto the hard concrete.

"Oh hey! We thought you guys had left already. The party is actually kind of fading out so we're going to head home." Finn grunted as he was carrying almost all of Blaine's weight while Kurt fumbled around trying to help. As if on cue, most of the club came spilling out the front door after them, everyone splitting up into the few cars that still had a sober driver. Bringing up the rear, Artie came rolling through the door with Brittany sitting in his lap.

"Hey there you two are!" She screamed with excitement pointing towards Santana and Juliet, who scooted apart even farther with the added attention that caused some of their classmates to look their way. "To my casa we go!' Brittany kissed Artie and hopped off his lap, grabbing her car keys from her pocket. "Uh, Britt you definitely should not be driving. I saw you take like 10 shots tonight!" Santana got up from the swing and attempted unsuccessfully to grab the keys out of her hand. Oops, guess she was still pretty tipsy herself. "No you silly goose, my shots were all water. I can't get over how fun drinking out of tiny cups is!" Juliet had stopped the swing and came up to join Santana in front of Brittany, both girls not quite sure they should believe their friend or not. "Besides, you know I have to stay off the juice in solidarity with Lord Tubbington." Brittany rolled her eyes as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. To prove her sobriety, Brittany offered to walk a straight line next to the curb, and as an added bonus she did it on her hands.

* * *

Arriving at Brittany's, everyone said their goodnights and Santana and Juliet made their way down into the basement. It was all tidy like it usually was when Santana came over but now that she knew what was going on, it was like her eyes were opened to a whole new world. She could see Juliet's things placed in certain areas, and the pull out bed from the couch was already popped open with Juliet's pillow and favorite blanket on it. As Santana took Juliet's jacket off and laid it on the arm of the couch, she noticed her girlfriend just standing in the middle of the room like a deer caught in the headlights, unsure what to do next. Santana instinctively went over and enveloped her in a hug, kissing her head and rubbed small circles on her back.

"I know the whole point of this sleepover was to...well, not sleep...but...do you mind if we go to bed? I just feel absolutely exhausted." Juliet warily looked up at Santana with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry." She added quickly before turning her head away, she was half expecting Santana to get upset at her request. Santana did all she could to stop herself from tearing up at the broken expression her girlfriend wore. She lifted Juliet's chin and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "We can do whatever you want, don't be sorry. Tonight I am 100% here for you and what you need."

The two of them clumsily changed out of their party clothes, the liquor they had consumed earlier still getting the better of them. Santana noticed that Juliet still seemed off, almost unsure about being here with her in this moment. It was like she was nervous but also relieved that she shared this secret she had been hiding for who knows how long. As they curled up under the blankets, Santana tried to think of something comforting to say, but nothing felt right. She just wanted Juliet to know that even if she wasn't wanted back home, she was wanted here, right now. Before she could decide she felt Juliet shaking, soon realizing that she wasn't just shaking - she was sobbing. It was as if she finally was able to release all the tension she had been holding on to. Santana let a few of her own tears escape as she nestled in closer. Some time had passed as the sobs slowly subsided, Juliet falling into a deep sleep, safely in Santana's arms. Fighting to keep her own eyes open, Santana drifted off as she fulfilled her promise to become Juliet's bonus blanket.

* * *

A groan escaped Santana's lips as she tried to open her eyes. Attempting to get her bearings straight, she started to regret how much alcohol she had consumed the night before. She tried to stretch, but quickly realized her arm was stuck. "I better not have spent another night at Lima's finest, I've already used my one get out of jail free card." She thought to herself. Suddenly, what she thought were handcuffs started to snuggle in closer, breathing a heavy sigh. When it registered that it was Juliet and not a pair of handcuffs, she pulled her girlfriend in tighter and ran the tips of her fingers lightly across her bare shoulder. She softly kissed the crook of Juliet's neck as the previous nights memories started flooding back into Santana's mind.

Juliet stirred a few minutes later, feeling cozy in the Santana created sauna wrapped around her. She blinked a couple of times, trying to adjust to the light of day as she looked up towards her girlfriend. Juliet was thankful she was even still around, her anxiety over telling Santana everything that happened with her Mom had her convinced it was all going to be over once she knew. But here they were, the morning after and Santana was the opposite of gone. In fact, she was practically suffocating Juliet, their bodies intertwined underneath the blanket. Juliet wiggled slightly out of the embrace, moving so her back was flat against the mattress as she stared up at the ceiling.

"Hey." Juliet tested out her voice groggily. She gave a brief smile as her head started pounding, reminding her how much they drank the night before. "San… how much of last night do you remember?" Juliet focused her eyes on the ceiling, not really sure which answer she would prefer to hear. Santana shifted around on the mattress, laying on her side and propping herself up on her elbow allowing her to look down at her girlfriend. "Hi." Santana said softly, leaning in to gingerly kiss her girlfriend's cheek. She paused slightly before figuring out the right answer to give. "I can remember as much or as little as you want me to."

Juliet released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She turned on her side to face Santana as she tried to figure out where to start. Santana smiled tenderly, intertwining their fingers as she played with Juliet's ring, something that quickly was becoming a favorite habit of hers. They both laid there in silence until Santana decided to start the ball rolling, she hesitantly began to ask the biggest thing that had been weighing on her mind since she found out. "So, how come you told Brittany before me?" She paused, avoiding Juliet's gaze, she didn't want to push her but needed to get this out. "I want you to know, no I _need you to know,_ that you can trust me, with anything. The good, the bad, the ugly, I'll always be here."

Juliet sighed, rolling back onto the bed to continue her intense examination of the ceiling. "For the record, I didn't tell Brittany. She figured it out somehow." Santana snorted. "Seems right, the girl knows just about everything." Juliet nodded, letting the room fill with silence before speaking again. "I was...kind of scared of how you would react. I know you're terrified of your parents finding out and I was just nervous that ... I don't know." Juliet stuttered around her words, she didn't want to offend Santana but she also wanted be honest with her about how she felt.

"You were afraid I would run." It wasn't a question, Santana feared this was why she hadn't been told. With a large sigh she shifted on the bed lying on her back, adjacent to Juliet. She kept their fingers intertwined as they both sat in silence once again. "Don't assume it's so easy to scare me off. I'm not going to run away, okay? You can talk to me about anything." Santana stretched her arm up around Juliet's head to pull her in closer, running her fingers through the mop of curls on her head. Juliet relaxed into her embrace and took a deep breath. She might as well start at the beginning, Santana deserved to know everything.

Juliet took her through all that had transpired, from the moment her mother showed up at sectionals, to staying in the sports shed, to Brittany offering her basement, and everything in between. Santana stayed silent for the entirety of the story, allowing every work to sink in. Unable to suppress her own emotions, Santana had become visibly upset when Juliet mentioned she had slept in the equipment shed for almost a week, but had managed to keep herself in check through the rest of the story. "...and that's pretty much everything that's been going on the past month or so." Juliet pensively turned her head to gauge Santana's expression. What she saw staring back at her was a mixture of sadness and horror. Santana stumbled to respond, the words not quite forming properly as her mind raced. "I...babe….fuck! You should not have gone through all of that alone. I could've done something… I would've…" Santana faded off unsure how to continue.

"What, let me move into your house? You've never even let me meet your Mom." Juliet winced as she said that out loud. Rehashing all her memories from the past month had raised her blood pressure, she didn't mean to be snarky but it just came out. Santana huffed but didn't have much of a rebuttal, turning the subject back to Juliet's mom she said, "Is there zero chance of your mom coming around? Maybe as time goes by, she will realize how fucking horrible she is being. I mean you are still her daughter!" Juliet sighed, her memory flashing back to part of that night after sectionals that she hadn't told Santana yet, that she hadn't actually told anyone. "I don't know about that… "

 _Juliet stood in her bedroom, tears filling her eyes after the confrontation in the kitchen. She hastily threw a few of her belongings into her duffle bag, her adrenaline was pumping and she had no idea where she was going to go from here. But if her own mother wasn't going to accept her then she would find someone, somewhere that would. She had no other option._

" _It doesn't have to be like this." Juliet was startled when she heard her mother's voice behind her. "Everyone deserves a second chance." Josslyn spoke softly, clutching pieces of paper in her hands. Juliet wiped the tears from her face as she walked towards her mother, maybe there was some hope. "I knew you would come around, I am still the same me, the same daughter you have been raising. This doesn't have to change anything-"_

 _Josslyn held up the papers in her hand, cutting her daughter off mid sentence. "Pastor Jeff has been helpful in researching some places with me over the past few months, ever since that situation with the neighbor girl this summer. I've been trying to prepare myself to help you further if it got to that point again. We can work on this together, as a family." Juliet grabbed the brochures from her mother's hand and glanced over them. "Conversion therapy!? Are you kidding me? You can't be serious!" Juliet crumpled the papers, tossing them towards her waste bin. With this latest attack she knew there was no turning back, "I'm not broken. I don't need to be fixed." She zipped up her duffel bag, grabbing her jacket and her school stuff off her desk as she pushed past her mother to leave._

 _Juliet made her way down the stairs as she heard Josslyn holler the last words she would hear her mother speak to her. "Fine. I'd rather have no daughter at all than one that chooses to go to hell for being an abomination."_

Santana had sat up during the recount of that night, sitting cross legged in her baggy t-shirt as she faced Juliet with complete attention. This was exactly the way she feared her family would react; she was at a loss for words. She cupped the side of Juliet's face, tenderly leaning over to kiss her. When she pulled back they both stared at each other for a few moments. "You're not an abomination, I hope you know that, I need you to know that. There's is absolutely nothing wrong with you nor did you choose this." Santana spoke softly, saying these words aloud to someone other than herself in a mirror, she knew this feeling all too well. Juliet smiled, reaching up to push some of Santana's hair behind her ear before planting another soft kiss on her lips.

When they pulled apart, Santana got a mischievous grin on her face, she figured it was time to lighten the mood a bit. "You know... I may have convinced my parents that they needed a weekend away to go visit some family in Columbus." She raised an eyebrow flirtily as she climbed on top of her girlfriend, straddling her as she leaned down and began to kiss Juliet's pulse points along the side of her neck. In between kisses she continued "This means they won't know either way if I am home or not. I had intended to convince you to try and sneak away this weekend but," Santana continued to travel downwards towards her collarbone. "If we are trying to look on the bright side, it seems that we have the entire weekend to ourselves." Juliet smirked as Santana pulled the covers up over their heads.

* * *

The two of them spent a blissful morning together under the covers, giggling and laughing at one another as they blocked out the rest of the world. Santana did her best to support Juliet and to make it all about her but the more she comforted her the more it was reciprocated, making them both feel whole being together. They stayed that way until Brittany, with a hoard of pups trailing behind her, interrupted them. Neither girl was all too disappointed when they realized Brittany had brought coffee downstairs with her. Santana made a mental note to remember to thank Brittany for all she had done.


End file.
